


Nancy Drew: The Mark of Red Death

by Charming_Quill



Series: The Dynamic Duo Detectives [1]
Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-01-10 14:59:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 35
Words: 28,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1161054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Charming_Quill/pseuds/Charming_Quill
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The silbings of Mel and Izzy are going to spend their Spring Break at Waverly Academy right after Nancy busted the Black Cat.  Little did they expect the mysterious adventure that awaits them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Calling all Super Sleuths

Sitting down in front of a computer screen, I was watching my best friend, Natalie Corbalis, typing.  Her slender fingers were flying across the keyboard at an impressive speed.  We were busy updating our weekly junior detective blog.  Of course, we would be if Natalie hadn’t gotten into a conversation with someone with the screen name N.Drew. 

                I didn’t really mind Natalie talking to someone on the Junior Detective site.  In fact, this was the most social she’d been since she finished up her spring piano recital.  But today was different.  It’s just that we’re going to go and see our older siblings as soon as her father got home from his job.  And I wasn’t sure if she was even packed.

                “Wow. Look here, Yessica. It says on her profile that she’s traveled all over the world solving a bunch of cases.”  Natalie gawked as she read. I, on the other hand, wasn’t as easily impressed.   Natalie often forgot that anyone could say just about anything on these types of websites.  A smile came across her pink lips while she was scrolling down.  “And she’s even solved a case at Waverly.”

                “Oh yeah.  Izzy told me something about a girl solving some sorta mystery there.”  I recalled. “I think her name was Nancy Drew.”

                “That must be what the N stands for.”  Turning back around to face the computer screen, Natalie began typing away again. Curious as to what she was saying, I glanced over her shoulder and discovered that she was posting to Nancy’s wall.

                _Hey N.Drew,_

_I’m a huge fan of yours.  I’ve read all about your past cases, and you’re a fabulous detective. I’m hoping to one day become a detective like you, but the only snooping I’ve ever done is sneaking into the kitchen for a late night snack.  Not exactly the most exciting adventure ever._

_Anyways, I see that you’ve been to Waverly Academy.  Me and my friend, Yessica Romero, are both headed there this Spring Break to meet up with our sisters.  We’ll be sure to tell them that you say hi, if you want us to.  Got any detective tips for us before we head out?_

                Rolling my eyes, I squeezed Natalie’s shoulder. “Um…Natalie, I don’t think Nancy Drew is not going to have time to answer your post.  She’s probably way too busy…”

                To my surprise, her laptop beeped at us while I was in the middle of my sentence.  It was a notification that indicated Nancy had written Natalie back.  Raising a thick eyebrow, Natalie chuckled as she clicked the post.  “You were saying.”

                “Ugh…just read what it says.” 

                “It says, Mysterious. Symphony.  Thanks for being such a fan.  I didn’t even know I had a fan base who stalked the night for food.  I’m truly flattered.  And I would love it if you could say hi to Mel and Izzy and the other girls for me.  That’d be great.  As for tips, I’d suggest you check out the basement.  It’s got a few tricks in it that you might be interested in.  Have a good Spring Break. –N.Drew”

                “Cool.” I admitted.  “Tell her we’ll definitely check into it.”

                “Alright.”

While Natalie was taking care of that, I heard the garage door creak open and nudged her side.  “Hurry up.  Your dad’s back and we want to get to Waverly before it’s dark.”

“I know, Yessica.  You don’t have to remind me.  Just let me update my status.”  A few keystrokes later, she closed up her laptop and stood up from her wooden chair.  I had decided to walk across her room toward her bed to grab my suitcase.  When I touched the handle, her tall dad came strolling in. 

He was dressed in a grey T-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes.  Scratching at his straight, black hair, he gestured out the door and shook the keys.  “Girls, it’s time to leave.”

“Ok, dad.” Taking the hint, Natalie stuffed her laptop into her backpack and zipped it up. Not willing to wait up for her, I made my way to the car and shoved my suitcase in the trunk.  I smiled and swung the door open.  It would be good to see my half-sister again.  And as soon as Natalie put her overstuffed bags into the back seat and joined me, we were on our way.


	2. Junior Detective Update #1

_MysteriousSymphony-_

_Headed out to meet up with my sister and Yessica’s half sis at Waverly Academy.  They’re all in the running for valedictorian, so we get to stay in the honors dorm. Maybe we shouldn’t tell them that we are best friends.  I mean, we’re siblings to both of them and they’re worst enemies. Oh well, forget about that boring stuff. I heard about how someone got kicked out of the school because N.Drew caught them trying to nab a lost story written by Edgar Allen Poe.  By the way, you guys should totally check out N.Drew’s page.  She’s got tons of great stories and loads of tips.  Anyhow, maybe me and Yessica will get lucky and we’ll stumble into our own mystery.  That would be awesome, but I bet it won’t happen.  Then again, who knows?  Like my dad always says, “Luck strikes when least expected.” Whatever happens, we’ll be sure to keep you guys posted._

_Time: 10:04.00, Date: March 22 nd, 2014_


	3. Chapter 2-Paige the Enforcer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The duo meets Paige for the first time.

“We’re finally here.”  My dad grumbled as the car pulled into the dorm’s circular driveway.  I was going to make some comment about how quickly the two hours had passed, but I thought twice when I realized the only reason it went so fast for me was because Yessica and I were belting out song lyrics the whole drive up.  Sure, it was a pretty obnoxious a loud thing to do, but we didn’t have much else to pass the time.

                While we drove up, I stared outside my window.  The school was a ways out from anywhere making it isolated.  All that we had passed on the way up after a while was a big Krolmeister office building and a couple of fast food chains and a grocery store.  If anyone wanted to go anywhere, they would have to take the bus or drive twelve miles any direction.

                “Come on, Natalie.”  Yessica unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. Her coarse, black hair had been tucked away in a low hanging pony tail.  Her silver sweater shimmered in the dim sunlight that occasionally poked out of the clouds.  “I’m ready to get settled in.”

                “Coming.” I answered as I followed her out.  My father leaned over the passenger seat and rolled down the window. 

                “Hey, Nat.  Be sure to say hi to Mel for me when you see her.”

                “Sure thing, dad.”  Picking up my heavy suitcase and shouldering my equally heavy handbag, I stumbled away from the car.  I wasn’t built to be a weight lifter or a super athlete.  I barely had the strength to turn around and call out to my dad as the engine roared to life.

                “Bye, Dad!”  I hollered while I waved goodbye.  He also gave a quick wave and shouted something like have a good time as he drove away.  Like me, he wasn’t one for long winded goodbyes. 

                Turning toward the school, I marveled at the burgundy brick structure.  It stood three stories tall and was surrounded by blooming oak trees, a white pavilion, and tall green hedges.  A silver emblem of a raven adorned the dorm as if it was a crowning jewel sitting atop its head. 

                Standing in front of us was a honey haired girl dressed in a maroon Waverly uniform.  She had her arms folded across her chest and was impatiently tapping her left foot.  Meeting our gaze with burning amber eyes, that sent a chill down my back.  “That must be Paige.” I whispered.  “Mel told me that she’s the R.A. and a hard ass.”

                “I can tell.”  Yessica replied as we approached her.  Despite Paige’s demeanor, Yessica remained calm and didn’t look the least bit intimidated.  I, on the other hand, could feel my freshman status of inexperience showing.  It’s the same feeling I always got when confronting an authority figure.

                Basically, it came down to me folding like a house of cards against a strong gust of wind.  I could probably trace it all back to my first private lesson teacher for the cello.  He would always yell and scowl…

                I felt a faint nudge suddenly on my left side.  “You’re starting to zone out again.”

                “Oh, sorry.”  I sheepishly apologized.  Leave it to Yessica to keep me from completely blanking out.

                We reached the front steps where Paige stood.  Uncrossing her arms, she placed her hands on her hips after staring at her wrist watch.  “I thought you both were scheduled to be here by 12:30 sharp.”

                I started to answer, but Yessica cut me off before I could.  “We got hung up in some traffic and stopped to grab some lunch on the ride up.  Hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long.”  The snide comment just about sent Paige fuming.  Yessica’s subtle, rude tone had obviously struck a nerve.

                “Not at all.”  Gritting her pearly white teeth, she forced a smile and opened the fancy glass door. “Welcome to Waverly Academy.”

                The room was a nice and spacious foyer filled with a couple of tables, chairs, and lamps.  Like the outside of the dorm, the raven emblem made an appearance on the wood floor.  There was also a cabinet filled with some silver ware and a painting off to the side.  But I didn’t care about any of that stuff.

                Spotting the black piano, I immediately dropped my travel bags and grinned.  Before I knew it, my feet had carried me to the instrument.  I opened the lid to the keys and began playing one of my favorite solo piano pieces; Chopin - Nocturne Op. 27, No. 2.  The music filled the room sending me into my typical performance trance.  My finger muscles had played this Nocturne so many times; I barely had to think about it anymore.

                Paige appeared to be more annoyed than impressed by my playing.  She muttered something under her breath just as I was finishing up.  Yessica clapped, but the strict R.A. only brushed her mane out of her eyes and continued walking down the hallway. I had to sprint away from the piano and snatch my bags from the ground in order to keep up.

                “Not much of a music lover.” I muttered.

                “I’m sure she’s just a little peeved that we’re so late.  She’s probably got somewhere she needs to be.”  Leave it to Yessica to be sympathetic to a complete stranger.  It never failed that she would come up with a good reason for someone to be grouchy. 

                After scaling the stairs and following Paige down the hall, we finally made it to our temporary room.  We both dumped our things on the beds and rubbed our sore shoulders. 

                Watching from the door way, Paige once again folded her arms and stared down at us.  “Ok, here’re the rules. No sneaking around at night, no messing with Danielle’s stuff, and no bothering me unless it’s absolutely important.  I don’t have time to babysit you two and show you all the way around.”  Beginning to close the door, she paused for a moment. 

“Oh, and the bathroom and my room are down the hall. I trust you two can find your way around without me.”  With that, she shut the door and left us to unpack in peace.


	4. Junior Detective Update #2

_EvidencePainter-_

_Location: Waverly Academy, dorm room_

_Subject: Paige Griffin._

_Description: Five foot 6, medium build with honey colored hair and amber eyes. Skin is peach and perfectly manicured nails. Wearing school uniform with plaid skirt._

_Assessment: Seems to be extremely stressed and anxious. Best guesses, classes are getting to her or relationship issues.  Have to do more analysis before coming up with the answer. Has odd habit of messing with her hair, tapping her feet and nose twitch.  Nervous habit perhaps? Maybe has some nervous energy.  Also wrinkles her nose a lot.  Sensitive senses or doesn’t get along with Natalie? ...Nope.  It’s Natalie. Doesn’t enjoy her job as an R.A. Probably just an R.A. for resume booster.  Not extremely friendly either.  Seems closed off and unwilling to meet new people.  A stickler for rules, because she broke them at one point? Doesn’t take sarcasm well. Note: don’t be sarcastic toward her anytime soon._

_Conclusion: Keep an eye out for her, and try to not piss her off._

_Objective: Get Paige to smile._

_Time: 1:13.55, Date: March 22 nd, 2014_


	5. Meet the Siblings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meeting up with Mel and Izzy

“Well, she’s a real peach.” Natalie rolled her eyes as she flopped onto the twin bed.  Her “unpacking” consisted of shoving her suitcase into the closet and setting her laptop on the desk.  I smacked her leg while she lay there causing her to yelp.  “Ow!  What was that for?”

                “Shoes, bed, off, now.”  I ordered.  She glared at me with her dark, brown-green eyes as she relocated her propped up legs. 

                “Why? The bed doesn’t have any sheets on it.”

                “Because it’s gross! Your shoes have dirt and gum and all sorts of crap on them.”  I had given her this lecture about a thousand times before.  It never hurt to remind her about it every once in a while.  Plus, I knew if I didn’t train her to take off her shoes each time she got on the bed, she wouldn’t learn not to.

                Natalie didn’t say much else while I systematically unpacked my clothes into a set of drawers.  I just assumed that she was messing around on her computer.  Yet, to my surprise, when I did glance at her, she was gazing at the ceiling.  Lost in one of her frequent trances, her mind tended to wander often. Whenever this happened, I normally left her to her imagination until she broke from her trance.  This time, however, I didn’t want to keep Mel and Izzy waiting any longer than we have been. 

                So, when I was finished unpacking, I walked on over to Natalie’s bed and whacked her on the foot to grab her attention.  “OW!  What is with you and hitting me today?”  Natalie complained.

                “We’ve kept Mel and Izzy waiting for long enough.  I think Izzy texted me that she was in a library.”

                “And Mel’s always in her room around this time of day.”  Perking up her head, Natalie pressed her ear against the wall and listened for a moment in silence.  “I can hear her playing.”

                “The she’ll be out first stop.”  I opened the door and stuck out my arm and bowed her out.  Skipping out of the room, Natalie waited for me to lock the door.  We proceeded to the room next to ours and knocked on the door. 

                “Come in.”  Mel called from inside.  Grinning from ear to ear, Natalie burst through the door with me in tow.

                “The fun has arrived!”  She sang.  Sitting behind a cello and surrounded by purple and black decorations was a pinked lipped and black and purple haired teenage girl.  She wore a black suit and slacks with thick boots.  The same pale skin that Natalie had was also present with Mel.  Placing her cello on the ground, she shot up and grabbed her little sister in an embrace. 

                “Heya kiddo!”  Mel laughed.  “I thought I heard you playing Chopin downstairs.”

“Yep.  That’s me.  Still playing the same old songs.”

“Ha.”  Mel chuckled. “Been a while, hasn’t it?”

                “Yeah.  And you hardly ever text me lately.”

                “Well, that’s because I’m always working on schoolwork.”  Pulling away, Mel sat back down in her chair and glanced at me.  “Who’s you’re friend?”

                “I’m Yessica.”  I introduced myself as I shook her hand. 

                “Oh, you’re Natalie’s best friend.  Aren’t you guys always attached to the hip?”

                “Hehe.  I am her fungus.  She can’t get rid of me no matter how hard she tries.”  I cackled throwing up my arms in triumph.  The two sisters rolled their eyes as another person walked into the room.  With a white blonde pixie haircut and blue eyes surrounded by thick black mascara, she stared for a moment before putting on a smile.

                “Hi.”  She waved.                                                                

                “Oh, Megan, this is my sister Natalie and her friend Yessica.  Natalie and Yessica, this is my roommate Megan Vargas.”  Mel introduced the both of us. 

                “Pleased to meet you guys.  You both stayin’ here?” 

                Natalie started to answer, but I cut her off.  “Yes.  We’re staying in the room next door.”

                “Oh,” Megan got a mischievous smile on her face.  “Corine’s old room.”

                “Corine…”  Furrowing her eyebrows in thought, Natalie appeared to be rattling her brain.  I had to be honest too.  The name sounded suspiciously familiar.  “You mean Corine Meyers?  The girl who was kicked out of school and was the Black Cat?”

                “That’s the one.”  Megan flopped onto her bed and kicked up her feet, shoes and all.  “She sent me to the hospital thanks to my allergies.”

                “That’s unfortunate.”  I sympathized.  While we were chatting with Megan, Mel already had her cello back in her grasp. She flipped through her music book and gave a sorrowful glance at Natalie.

                “Hey, kiddo.  Wish I could talk more, but my teacher will kill me if I don’t get my senior painting done.  And music…”

                “I know I know.”  Natalie brushed it off with a wave of her hand.  “Music’s your inspiration.”

                “It’s cool.”  I also joined into the conversation.  “We’ve been dying to take a look around this place anyways.  There’s an oak tree outside with my name on it.” 

                “Alright then.  Catch you later, kiddo?” 

                “Sure thing, sis.”  Natalie called as we waltzed out the door.  “Nice meeting you, Megan.”  With that, the door closed and we were on our way downstairs.  There was a silence that fell between us.  That is, until Natalie broke that silence with her curiosity.  “So, what’d you think of Megan?”

                “She seems…”  Pausing to search for the right words, I struggled to articulate my feelings toward her.  “Like she’s a little tense.  I don’t think she and Mel are exactly all buddy buddy.”

                “Yeah.”  She shivered and grabbed her elbows.  “You could cut that tension with a knife.”

                “Uh-huh. But now that we’ve met up with Mel, we can head down to the library and catch up with Izzy.” 

                “Sounds like a plan to me.”

                Already, we were hustling down the winding staircase.  From what I remembered when we were heading up, the library double doors were right downstairs.  That was practically where Izzy lived during the school year; studying and texting on her phone. 

                ‘Uh-oh.’ A thought suddenly crossed my mind.  Izzy was very perceptive and usually quick to judge a person by their outward appearance.  Maybe I should have warned Natalie, but Natalie was pretty nonchalant with her fashion choices, and often didn’t really care about other people’s opinion.  Izzy didn’t necessarily appreciate casual, yet it was a safe style to approach her with.  So, I hoped there was nothing to worry about.

                Soon, we were opening the double doors and walking into the large library.  Izzy- with her black vest, plaid skirt, and short brown hair-was sitting in one of the individual cubicles.  Lifting her head, she turned to face us as we walked up to her.  Her white teeth sparkled as she smiled. 

“Yessica!”  Throwing up her arms, Izzy stood up and grabbed me in a tight hug.  “Bonjour!  How are you?”

“What do you think?”

Ignoring my question, she kept on talking.  “Gotta say that it’s been a while.  I mean, dad hasn’t exactly been keeping in touch with me, so I was actually surprised you got my number.  But then again, I am the most popular person at Waverly, and having my umber is a must have.  And I can’t believe that your mother even let you come up.  I mean, she’s usually so uncool with you and me spending time together.” 

Shaking my head, I waited for her enthusiasm to calm down a bit.  When it did, she seemed surprised to finally realize that we weren’t alone.  Natalie put on a shy and polite smile as she stuck out her hand.  “Hi, I’m Natalie.  Yessica’s friend.”

Narrowing her eyes, Izzy circled Natalie like a predator and surveyed her outfit.  Natalie let her hand awkwardly drop to her side as Izzy rested her chin on her fingers.  “Well, I like the black jean shorts with the plain red shirt.  Though, the studded belt and goth boots and knee high socks are somewhat overkill.  But her white, long sleeve shirt is a nice layered touch.  Red highlights and low hanging pig-tails, not my favorite style but it works for her…”

I cocked an eyebrow as she finished up her evaluation.  On the outside I worked to keep up my calm appearance.  On the inside, I was cringing because I knew how this evaluation would turn out. 

Taking a deep breath, Izzy faced Natalie and her smile returned.  “Alright, I approve.”

Natalie’s face melted in relief as she shook Izzy’s hand.  Me, well…I was in shock. “Really?  But you never approve any of my friends.  There’s always something that you don’t like about them.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.”  Turning back toward her desk, Izzy gathered up her school supplies and shouldered it on her back.  “We’re going to have so much fun.  I’ve got the whole rest of the day planned.  You girls are gonna love it.”


	6. Junior Detective Update #3

_MysteriousSymphony-_

_I…I’m exhausted.  Just…ok.  EvidencePainter’s sister is insane.  She was able to jam five activities together in three and a half hours.  We went shopping and horseback riding and jewelry making and a scavenger hunt.  How can one person successfully plan and execute so many events?  I…I’m still panting.  Thankfully, I was able to get away to a quiet dinner with Mel without Izzy being suspicious.  Still don’t know how we have been able to keep that from her.  And then, as if the afternoon wasn’t enough, Izzy insisted that we go to get some ice cream at some joint and we ended up staying for an hour. Oh well, at least we were sitting down and relaxing for a bit before Izzy dragged us up to the karaoke stage.  I mean, we did alright and the whole place cheered for us, but I was barely hanging on by the end.  I’m so tired, my eyes are crossing and I can’t see straight._

_Guys…I think I gotta call it a night.  EvidencePainter still wants to explore outside, but Paige reminded us that if she catches us walking around at night, then she’ll call out parents and get us kicked out.  So, this is MysteriousSymphony signing off.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be just as fun.  See you guys later!_

_Time: 10:30.22, Date: March 22 nd, 2014_


	7. Glimpsing Death

“Uhh…” I quietly moaned.  My hair was pressed against my cheek, and I was extremely hot underneath the covers.  Of course, it didn’t help that the room temperature was 76 degrees and my blanket was thick.  That and heat always rises and it’s spring time which means higher temperatures and I don’t think the air conditioner works very well in here and…

                ‘Ah’. I thought as I tossed and turned for the millionth time that night.  There I went rambling again. Mainly, it was hot and I hadn’t been able to fall completely asleep.  And dozing off in a half sleepy haze wasn’t exactly the most ideal sleep I’ve ever had. 

                Glancing at the clock only made me moan a second time.  2:42 am.  What kind of sick person was still awake at this hour?  ‘Someone who can’t fall asleep.’ I answered my own question.  I couldn’t believe that, after all those activities Izzy dragged me too, I wouldn’t be tired enough to do anything less than crash when my head hit the pillow. 

                A sudden sensation swept through me, and I found myself sitting upright in bed.  I threw the covers off.  The cool air blew on my legs as I rubbed my groggy eyes.  Stumbling toward the door, I jiggled the handle and yawned.  A courteous roommate probably would’ve tried to keep as quiet as possible.  But I knew Yessica was a heavy sleeper, so there was little point to sneaking around.

                The hallway, on the other hand, was a different story.  I tiptoed as softly as my socked feet would allow.  There was no way I wanted to get caught by Paige even if it was only going to the bathroom.  So, as quickly and silently as I could, I rushed into the bathroom.  A few moments later, I was washing my hands with the freezing cold water and staring at my tangled hairdo.  It looked like a fuzzy bird’s nest.

                I quickly brushed my hair back down to a manageable state.  Then, after adjusting my pajama shorts, I opened the door and stepped out.  I was about to go back to the room when I heard the clicking sound of high heels.  The noise seemed to be coming from the other end of the hallway around the corner.  Curiosity taking hold, I found myself poking my head past the corner.

                A slim lady with long, flowing red hair was strolling down the hall like she belonged there.  She was dressed in a bright red dress with a long billowing train.  Getting a good profile on her face wasn’t an option though.  Her back was facing me and she was slowly disappearing down the winding staircase.

                Confused as to what was happening, my instincts kicked in.  My legs carried me back to the room and I began shaking Yessica’s shoulders.  “Yessica! Come on, Yessica.  Wake up!”

                “What…” She mumbled. I was actually surprised she wasn’t going to kill me for stirring her awake.

                “Some woman is walking around and I just saw her walking down the stairs.”

                “You mean you saw a woman in an all-girls dorm walking down the stairs?  Call 9-11.  This is a shocking development!” 

                “Ugh!  I swear it wasn’t one of the other girls.  Unless one of them had a really red and long dress.” 

                Finally, Yessica sat up and glared at me.  “This had better be good.”  Her low growling voice was filled with anger as she slipped out of her warm cocoon.  Grabbing her sweatpants, she pulled them on along with her socks and tennis shoes.  

                I did the same and had the foresight to snatch up my flashlight.  Reminding Yessica to do the same, we both nodded.  “So, where did you see this woman headed?”

                “She was going to the first floor down the stairway to the right.”  I recalled.  “But we hafta be quiet or else Paige’ll catch us.”

                “Then just keep quiet and follow my lead.”  Heading out the door, we carefully made our way toward the staircase.  Yessica remained collected with her composure.  I, on the other hand, jumped at just about every small creak or thud I heard.  Logic would dictate that the stress of my piano recitals would make me just as calm as she was.  Probably just me being too excitable.  My tendency to over-react was higher than Yessica’s.

                While my mind wandered, we had reached the down stair floor.  There was still no sign of the mysterious woman, and Yessica was starting to get frustrated.   She motioned for us to head outside and we passed through the glass double doors.  Out there, we were able to talk.

                “Are you sure you saw this woman?”  The doubt in her voice was unnerving.  Facing me with her bright LED flashlight shining in my eyes, she cocked an eyebrow.  “I mean, you could’ve been dreaming or…”

                “I didn’t imagine it!”  My tone was harsher than I really wanted to.  I held up my hand to shield them from the intense blue-white light.  Leave it to Yessica to try to blind me like I was under an interrogation lamp.  “She’s got to be around here somewhere.”

                “Yeah…she’s just like Daphne and found another trap door. Classic D.I.D.”

                I should’ve been offended by her comment, but my mind was plagued by one thing.  “What does D.I.D. mean?”

                Boy I thought she would shoot daggers at me with her glare.  After rolling her eyes and bending over to stare at the ground by the oak tree and shrubs, she answered.  “Damsel in distress.”

                “Oh.”  That was the only thing I could think to say.  I was too busy surveying the ground by the street.  There appeared to be freshly made tire tracks in the driveway.  “Hey, were these tracks here yesterday?”

                “Nawh.  Neither was this.”  Yessica crouched down and pulled off a red veil that was snagged on the bushes and flapping in the wind.   Wide eyed, she held the fabric through her two fingers.  “Guess she really was here.”

                “Told you so.” A smug smile came over my face.  It wasn’t often that I got to lord the fact that I was right over my best friend.  But, as I bent over to look, I noticed the stone path led to the side of the building.  Nudging Yessica’s bony shoulder, I pointed over there.  “Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a basement somewhere around here that Nancy Drew told us to check out.”

                “Yeah. What of it?”

                “Maybe the woman’s hiding in there.”

                Cocking her head, Yessica nodded and an idea crossed her face.  “Isn’t there a snack machine inside with paper bags?” 

                “Uh-huh.”

                Standing up, Yessica began heading toward the dorm doors.  “You go on ahead to the basement.  I’ll be there in a sec.”  With that, she vanished into the building.

                I hopped across the stepping stones and came to the whitewood rickety door.  To my dismay, the entrance was padlocked.  Shaking my head, I heard Yessica’s light footsteps in the grass behind me.  She appeared next to me and dangled a brown metal key in my face.  “Looking for this?”

                Snatching it from her hand, I slid it into the lock and opened it.  The doors creaked open and fumbled our way down the stairs.  Cold and damp as basements go, this one was filled with boxes of books and gardening supplies and housing a giant metal furnace.  Over by the stairs were a couple of chairs stuffed in a corner and a set of bricks some bright and shiny gold stars embedded in them. 

                Of course, I made a beeline to the shiny objects hanging on the wall.  Yessica, looking wearily at the furnace, walked over there and started fiddling with the pipes. “Is it safe?”  She wondered out loud. Leave it to her to want to make sure the furnace didn’t explode.  She kept hitting the pipes creating an ear grating noise that echoed throughout the hallow room.

                Trying to take my mind off of the noise, I leaned toward the bricks and reached out my right hand.  The smooth metal was cold and there were symbols ingrained on them.  A cat, bug, raven, and a gorilla.  ‘That’s really random.’ I mused.  

                “I’m telling you, Natalie.  There’s something funky about this furnace. I can feel it….”  Continuing to speak, my best friend expressed her deep concern.  I pretty much ignored her warnings and started to press my slender fingers against the gold stars.  The gorilla star sunk into the slot and, upon figuring this out, I soon had the others pushed in as well. 

When I pressed the cat star into its slot, I suddenly felt the ground give out beneath me.  I was no longer standing on anything.  The floor had vanished and I dropped like a sack of rocks.  “Ahhh!”  Screaming loudly, I slid into the tunnel.

“Natalie!” 

I could tell that Yessica had turned around and noticed what had happened.  She was too late to save me.  This dirt slide was taking me to wherever it ended.  I had no idea where I would end up.


	8. Junior Detective Update #4

_EvidencePainter-_

_Location: Waverly School Basement_

_Subject: Natalie Corbalis_

_Description: Five foot four, small build with black hair and red highlights and brown eyes._

_Assessment:  Awfully jumpy and impatient tonight.  Plus, bags under her eyes.  Clearly she got absolutely no sleep so far.  I blame the heat.  Practically frantic over some weird woman she caught sight of in the hallway.  Hallucination while on her way to the bathroom?  Dreaming and didn’t realize it?  No.  Too many bags and tired eyes to actually have gotten any sleep.  Betting that it’s a hallucination for now.  Now she’s insisting I come with her.  Should go to humor her.  Denying the hallucination theory. Crazy, perhaps?  Overstressed maybe?  Nawh.  Keeping an eye on her.  Determined to find this woman and headed for the basement.  Really isn’t giving up on her idea that she’s real.  Continuing to humor her by giving her the key.  Also, a side note, she’s attracted to shiny objects.  Why the attraction?  Why the need to touch them? Oh God!  Where did she…um…that hole wasn’t there before…_

_Evidence:_

  * _Bagged: Thin red veil that was found on shrub branch.  Fell off the woman while she was walking away and was caught in the bush by the wind?  Was the woman panicking as she passed by?_
  * _Findings: Natalie found tire tracks in the driveway.  Possible getaway car or was someone else here?_



_Conclusion:_

  1. _1._ _Natalie is not crazy.  Be sure to apologize._
  2. _2._ _Natalie has vanished.  Oh God where did she go?_
  3. _3._ _I’m going to kill that girl._



_Objective:  Find Natalie stat!_

_Time: 2:50.31 am, March 23 rd, 2014_


	9. King Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natlie and Yessica come across Leela and Jacob

“Natalie!  Are you ok?”  Hollering down the hole in the ground, I couldn’t believe that she had dropped through the floor.  I took my eyes off her for one minute and this is what happens.  Honestly, sometimes it felt like I couldn’t go anywhere with her.

                My heart pounded as I waited for her to answer.  Was she ok?  Where did she end up?  Was she conscious or lying somewhere in the dirt?  Was this tunnel system for water or piping?

                Finally, after what felt like hours of silence, I heard a familiar moan.  “I’m ok!”  Natalie’s voice rang out from the hole.  My panic died down at the sound of her voice.  But that was when my anger started to kick in.

                “Damn it.  Why’d you have to scare me like that?”

                “I didn’t mean to!  I was just messing around with those shiny stars and, the next thing I knew, I was sliding down this dirt slide.”

                “Then you shouldn’t have been messing around with those stars in the first place!”

                “But you were fiddling around and banging the pipes with the furnace.  Why is that not any different?”

                “Because I didn’t end up where you are.  By the way, where are you?”

                “Oh…right.”  There was a long pause as I guessed that she was taking a look around.  “Actually, it looks really cool down here.  It’s like a giant, underground tunnel system that someone probably built and forgot about.  You should really get down here.”

                “I don’t know…”  Usually, I wouldn’t have any shortcomings jumping into a hole, but there was the potential that we would be stuck down there.  Both Izzy and Mel would be worried about them, and we could be down there for days before anyone found us.

                “Just hurry, please.  It’s kind of cold down here.”

                “Ugh!  Fine.”  I rolled my eyes.  Sometimes Natalie could be such a wimp and it grated on my nerves.  It’s like she was a whimpering puppy unable to hold her own.  It wasn’t always a problem, but it got annoying really quickly.  “Hang on, I’m coming down now.”

                Taking a leap of faith, I jumped and started my descent.  It was like a winding, never-ending dirt slide.  I couldn’t help but let out a shriek of delight.  My stomach churned as I wondered how long it would take me to reach the bottom.

                A second later, my feet hit the ground, and I found myself out of the slide and into the tunnel.  The collision caused me to collapse to the floor.  I rubbed my aching knees which took a beating when I fell.  They made a cracking noise as I tried to stand up.  Hearing the crunching of boots behind me, I spun my head around in panic.

                “Geez. It’s only me.”  Natalie bent over and snagged my elbow before I could protest.  “Quite a wild ride, isn’t it?”

                “No.  I was screaming on my way down for no reason.”  I retorted while I brushed the dust of my sweatpants.  Glancing around, I noticed there were two doorways leading to connecting tunnels.  My curiosity suddenly peaked.  “Where do those lead?”

                Natalie shrugged.  “Beats me.  I took a peek inside, but it’s too dark to see anything.”

                Deciding to take a look for myself, I opened the creaky door and peered into the blackness.  Like a bottomless pit, the darkness appeared never-ending.  Even when Natalie shined her flashlight into the gloom it barely penetrated.  I could feel her quick hot breaths on the back of my neck.  Standing close behind me, she clung to my shoulder.

                “Ehem.”  When my hint was lost on her, I reached over and pried her hand off my jacket.  “You know, I do have a personal bubble that you’re violating right now.  Would it kill you to take a couple steps back?”

                As usual, she ignored me and took two steps forward.  “Natalie!  That’s not what I said…”

                “Shh…” she pressed a finger to her lips.  Stretching her neck muscles, she squinted her eyes in concentration.  She walked a couple of steps ahead and resumed her position.  ‘What is she doing?’ I mean, she stood frozen in place like an alert dog.  I was about to shake her, but before I did, she turned to face me.

                “I think there’s someone in the tunnel up ahead.”

                “Seriously?”  I stared at the black space in front of us and raised an eyebrow.  “You sure?”

                Nodding her head caused her pigtails to bounce.  “Absolutely.  I can hear them arguing.”

                Pulling out my LED flashlight, I clicked it on and motioned for her to follow me.  We both slowly started walking through the tunnel.  My eyes were glued straight ahead and I hardly blinked.  There were still shadows that someone could hide in.  I kept my left hand ready to shoot out at any potential intruders. 

                It wasn’t long before we came across an underground waterway.  Dripping water sounds echoed through the cave.  And now I could actually hear people arguing.  They were somewhere around the corner where a small light was coming from.  Figuring it was better to turn off my flashlight to surprise them, I quietly stepped around the corner with Natalie in tow.  That was when we both spotted two people leaning over some sort of game board. 

                Suddenly, the girl who I remembered was named Leela Yadev, caught a glimpse of us and shouted at her guy companion.  “Jacob!  Look!”  Jacob, a handsome looking athletic guy in a maroon lettermen jacket, turned his head around and shot up. 

                “Hey!”  He hollered. “Stop!”

                Normally, I would’ve confronted a guy like him charging at me.  But this time was different.  The space was so confined it was hard to get in a fighting position.  Luckily, Natalie and I had the sense to hop into the water and swim away.  It was pretty chilly and caused me to shiver.  Unfortunately, Jacob followed us.  Thankfully, when he entered the water, he started flailing around like a drowning child. 

                Both Natalie and I shared a look of pity and we each sighed.  “I’ve got the legs.”  I groaned.

                “And I’ll take the arms.”  Natalie replied.  Swimming back to Jacob, we grabbed him and together pulled him out of the water.  He gasped and his fingers curled his fingers into the dirt.  Leela came rushing over and helped him up.

                “Ah, come on, Jacob?  What kind of wimp can’t swim?”

                “I never learned how!”  His pride was definitely wounded.  I could tell by the look in his eyes and the slump in his shoulders.  And now, he was about to turn his frustration on them.  “Who are these two?”

                Leela paused a moment and then slapped her forehead.  “Ugh!  It’s the two freshmen who are hanging around at the school for spring break.  I think one of them is Izzy’s sis.”

                Grumbling at that fact, Jacob rolled his eyes and kept glancing back at the makeshift table.  Almost as if he was hiding something back there.  “Then what are we gonna do with them now that they found us down here?”

                I could hear Natalie gulp at that statement.  It did seem like he was planning to off them.  “Hey, we are standing right here.”  I growled.  I know Izzy told me about how she’s going out with Jacob Pryce, and if this was the same Jacob, then she would have to talk to Izzy later about how awful he was. 

                “The gig is up Jacob.”  Leela sighed as she sat back down.  That was when I noticed the checkerboard. 

                “Wait!  You guys are getting all defensive about checkers?”  Natalie chuckled uncontrollably.  “That’s your big secret?” 

                “Knock it off!”  Jacob menacingly pointed a finger at Natalie.  I was about to slap him across the face for threatening my friend, but he wisely sat back down in his chair.  Ringing out his jacket, he mumbled, “It’s not funny.”

                “No, it’s totally hilarious.” 

                Nudging Natalie in the stomach, I stopped her from continuing and turned back to Leela and Jacob.  Something was still lingered on my mind.  “Is this really what you guys are doing down here?”

                “Yeah.  It may seem uncool, but Jacob and I are underground board gamers.  It’s kind of a dark secret we share.  Mainly because I’m the best at everything and I can’t let him win.”

                “You never win.  I’m the one who always wins.”

                “Shut it, Jacob.”

                Ignoring their bickering, I continued my questions.  “And you’ve never seen anyone poking around the tunnels before?  We’re the first people to discover you?”

                “Pretty much.  We’re excellent sneakers and, as far as we know, no one else knows about these tunnels.  We were pretty lucky to find them.”  Leela admitted. 

                “So, you didn’t see a woman dressed in red come through recently?”  Natalie chimed in.  Both of the athletic seniors shook their heads.  Slumping her shoulder, Natalie let out an exasperated sigh.  “Dang it.  I don’t think we’re going to find her tonight. Guess we’d better head back to our room.”

                “Ugh…I was dragged out of bed for this.”  I grumbled.  But both Leela and Jacob glared at us.  “What?”

                “You guys can’t tell anybody about this, or else we’ll be ruined.”

                “Yeah, fine.  Whatever.” I was finally fed up.  Secret checker games, mysterious women in red dresses and hidden tunnel system.  All I wanted was to get back into bed.

                “Oh, the exit is over by the ladder on the other side of the second door.”  Leela yelled as we backtracked.  Barely hearing her and feeling sleep creeping back into my eyes, I pushed Natalie forward and urged her to go faster while she babbled on.  Something about how she wasn’t crazy and proclaiming her determination to find her.  As long as it didn’t disturb more of my sleep, I didn’t care.


	10. Junior Detective Update #5

_MysteriousSymphony-_

_So…Yessica thinks I’m crazy.  Just because I saw a woman around 2 something at night and didn’t get a whole lot of sleep, she assumes it was just a hallucination.  I don’t know whether to accept it or be offended by her suggestion of my sanity.  I mean, maybe I’m exaggerating, but I know what I saw and there was definitely a lady in red._

_Oh, and we met Jacob and Leela tonight.  What a charming couple of narcissists.  Both of them are so in love with winning, I’m surprised either of them thinks about anything other than themselves for more than a minute.    Anyways, Jacob chased us into some sort of underground pool and we ended up having to save him.  What kind of football/ athletic star can’t swim?  And now I’m all wet because of it.  Oh well.  At least I’m feeling cooler.  In fact, I think I can actually fall asleep now._

_So, yeah. Not much else to say except I’ve found a new quest to find that mysterious woman.  Guess we might have stumbled upon a serious mystery. Me and EvidencePainter will be keeping you guys informed as always. Have a good rest of the night, in case anyone is even awake right now._

_Time: 3:13.04 am, March 23 rd, 2014_


	11. Menacing Notes

“Ah…” I yawned while I stretched out my short arms. Last night’s adventure had left me pretty exhausted. It was one thing to lay in bed for hours, but another thing entirely to getting up and chasing after wandering women. In fact, after barely any sleep, it was a miracle I even woke up today.

With a small breakfast of buttered toast and a banana sitting in my stomach, I sat comfortably in one of the foyer lounge chairs. Yessica, somehow more awake then I was, paced back and forth. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she seemed to be deep in her own thoughts. Probably something still bothered her about last night. Maybe she was finally taking my sighting seriously. Then again, she could still be wondering what caused my supposed “hallucination”. Honestly, how many times did I have to insist she was real before Yessica considered it a possibility?

Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I just had to know what was on her mind. “Geez. You seem restless this morning. What’s bugging you?”

“Huh?” Yessica snapped out of her daze. “Oh, just thinking about how that veil got there last night.”

“It’s bothering you that much?” I sat up straighter, a bit surprised. Wasn’t it obvious how the veil had got there? Someone was in a big rush to get out of dodge and it slipped off and caught in the bush thanks to a gust of wind. ‘Simple, right?’

“Well, I know how it got there. But why? What could make someone leave it behind? What were they running from?” She pondered out loud.

“Pssh. She probably just saw us coming and wanted to hightail it outta here.”

“Well duh! I get that.” Stopping midstride, Yessica brushed back a strand of her brown hair out of her face. Her gaze never left the Waverly school crest on the floor. “But how did she disappear so quickly? I mean, you saw the tire tracks, but I don’t remember seeing or hearing one drive away.”

Come to think of it, I didn’t see anything either. Just the quiet, windy night had greeted us last night. Thinking about it more, another realization hit me that instant. “And the basement door was padlocked!”

“Exactly.” Plopping into the stuffed leather chair next to mine, she continued. “Not many other places she could’ve gotten to.”

“Nope.” Letting silence fall between us, I contemplated our next move. We couldn’t question Mel or Izzy. Both of them would become suspicious and start asking questions. Leela was out of the question also. Every time we walked by, her eyes would narrow as if to remind us of our promise and what would become of us if we broke it. Neither Rachel nor Kim would even talk to us. That just left Megan, Paige, and Danielle to choose from.

Unfortunately, Danielle was back home with her parents and Megan didn’t seem too keen on striking up a conversation with her roommate’s younger sister. That meant Paige was the only candidate to speak to.

“Why don’t we ask Paige if she’s seen anything?”

Yessica shot me a glare. “Oh sure. That’ll go over well. I can see her kicking us out now.”

“Well, we don’t have to mention all the other stuff we did. Why not just tell her about my bathroom story?”

Thinking about my statement for a moment, Yessica finally gave me an answer. “Alright. I guess that could work.” Pushing herself out of the chair, she eyed the front doors. “And I’ll check again outside in case we missed anything last night.”

“Ok.” I eagerly agreed. However, before we parted ways, I had to ask another question. “Um…Yessica? Why do you believe me now?”

“Because I couldn’t stop thinking about the veil last night.”

Satisfied with her answer, I nodded and made my way to Paige’s room. I carefully rehearsed what I would say to her making sure I didn’t reveal any incrementing details. If Paige detected any hint of deception, then we would be whisked faster than we could say forte.

Approaching her room, I noticed the door was cracked open. Lightly knocking, I heard a faint come in. And then, there I was; standing in front of the drill sergeant herself. She flipped part of her golden mane out of her face and set aside her cell phone. “What is it?” 

I detected a hint of frustration in her voice. Gulping back my anxiety, I straightened out my back. “Hey, Paige. I had something to ask you.” A pause followed. She seemed so disinterested in me. Only the presence of her phone mattered at the moment. “It’s about last night.”

Boy did that catch her attention. She practically shot up from her desk chair. I thought she was going to charge at me like Jacob tried to last night. “Didn’t I tell you two to stay in your rooms at night?” She hissed.

“And we did.” A sudden burst of confidence coursed through my veins. “It wasn’t anything more than a quick trip to the bathroom.”

Disappointed, Paige sat back down. “And what’s so important about a trip to the restroom?”

“Well, nothing at first. But, as I was leaving, I saw some woman in red walking by. It was really weird and I wanted to know if you, or anybody else noticed her around?”

Now Paige’s face was wrought with worry. Tightly gripping her pen, she didn’t hesitate to answer. “No. Probably just someone’s idea of a stupid prank. I’ll look for them tonight.” Facing the desk again, her hand went straight to her phone and soon she was furiously texting somebody.

I took that as my cue to leave. Besides, I knew she was lying. Something in her eyes recognized my description of this woman. Almost as if Paige had experienced what I had also. ‘But she’s not going to open up to me.’ I figured while I walked down the stairs. As far as I could tell, I was her least favorite person in the whole world. Maybe Mel had pissed her off and she was taking it out on me. Maybe we were just another pair of girls she had to babysit.

Anyways, whatever the case was didn’t matter much. Fact was, she got that same annoyed look in her face each time I came anywhere near her. It would take tons of time for her to even acknowledge me let alone talking to me about anything other than the rules. 

When I stepped outside, the sun beat down upon me. Causing me to sneeze. It was on the warm side, but there was enough of a chilly breeze to warrant my light jacket. I scanned the surrounding area to find Yessica. Sure enough, she was standing beneath the oak tree and staring up. In her left hand was yet another brown paper bag.

“What are you staring at?” I wondered as I stood by her side. Pointing to a high and thin branch, Yessica gave me an explanation.

“See that hole in the tree?”

If I titled my neck as far back as I could and shielded my eyes from the sunbeams, then I did see it. “Yes.”

“A white squirrel just came along and grabbed something shiny on the ground before I could get to it. Then it vanished into that hole, and now…” Setting the bag on the nearby bench, Yessica gave me a wicked grin. “I need a boost.”

“Seriously.” I groaned. Ever since we were in middle school together, Yessica never failed to find some excuse to climb a tree. I wouldn’t have minded so much if it didn’t mean she’d have to climb onto my shoulders to get high up enough. The pain of her heels digging into my skin. “Isn’t there another way up this tree?”

“Unless you want me falling from the second story window, I suggest you bend over now.”

Leave it to Yessica to convince me to help her with a sarcastic comment. In order to steady myself, I placed a hand on the oak and waited for Yessica to hop on. She stepped onto the bench and then got on my shoulders. It didn’t take long for the familiar pain to start as I stood up.

“Can you reach the branches?”

I felt her stretching as far as she could while I waited for a reply. Once again, the weight on my shoulder was a heavy burden. Finally, I felt her lifting herself up onto the branch and I rubbed my shoulders in relief. Scaling the tree with surprising ease, Yessica pulled herself up to the hole and reached inside. She grabbed everything she could stuff in her pockets and started back down. 

Dropping back to the ground, she opened her palm to reveal a shining red ruby. My eyes widened. “Is that a real ruby?”

“I don’t know.” Shrugging, Yessica tossed it into the bag. She also reached inside and pulled out a blood red sheet of paper. “But you should take a look at this.”

Taking the paper from her, I stared at the message written on it. It was in blocky black letters and was surrounded by pictures of red death by Edgar Allen Poe. And the message was clear. “Death is coming for you.”


	12. Junior Detective Update #7

EvidencePainter-

Location: Under the Oak Tree

Subject: Albino Squirrel

Assessment: Clearly has kleptomania. Seen him stealing any shiny thing in sight. Nuts? Guess he doesn’t need those. He’s just hauling shiny objects into his hole in the tree. Oh, also hordes junk. Maybe there’s something worthwhile in his tree. Will have to wait for MysteriousSymphony until I can get up there to see it.

Evidence:

Bagged: Menacing note. What could it mean? Is someone at the school being targeted or has this been happening to everybody? Who was the note intended for? Did MysteriousSymphony interrupt the woman delivering this note? If so, could she reappear and go after us?  
Observed: Squirrel has something shiny in his mouth.   
Conclusion:

Keep an eye out for this woman and don’t alert anyone to it.

Objective:

Get the shiny object.

Time: 9:54.37 a.m., March 23rd, 2014


	13. Oxborough

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls take an unexpected trip to the school down the road.

“But, Mel! We’re so bored.” Natalie whined. “Can’t you take a break from your project and do something with us?”

We had been sitting on Mel’s bed for about an hour trying to convince Mel to abandon her studies. It wasn’t working all too well. She shot Natalie one of those disappointing looks while she snatched up a thick art book. “I wish I could, kiddo. But this assignment’s worth 20% of my grade.”

“You’ve had two weeks to work on this project.”

“I know.” She moaned. There was a sudden twinge of guilt in her eye. The stare of someone who procrastinated and was trying to make up for it. I understood that desperate gaze quite well. 

Clearly disappointed, Natalie didn’t say another word to her sister as she stood up from the bed. Mel looked as though she wanted to protest. Wished that she could call out and abandon her studies for her younger sister. But I could tell that she wouldn’t. There was too much at stake with the race to being valedictorian.

I also decided to leave the room without another word and to go search for Natalie. Figured she needed someone to talk to. And it wasn’t going to be difficult to find her. From outside Mel’s bedroom door, I could hear the piano music coming from downstairs. Judging by the banging of the keys, I’d say that she was pretty upset.

I rushed downstairs as fast as my legs would carry me. There she was, perched on the cushioned bench and furiously pounding away. Too proud to show tears, she bit her lip and sucked in a breath. I stood right behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“You know playing the piano won’t make you feel better, right?” I had seen her do this to herself a hundred times before. Natalie would play and play and play and play until she’d finally break down. This time, however, she stopped mid song.

Closing the lid to the keys, she turned around and faced me. She was working hard to keep herself together and pretend this wasn’t bothering her that much. Of course, her mouth told me otherwise. Whenever she was saddened, her lips would press together. “Yeah. But it distracts me.”

“No. You don’t need a distraction.” I tugged her arm to make her stand up. “You need an adventure.” 

Her eyes lit up at that word. “You mean you want to explore the tunnels?”

“Well, we’re bored. Izzy’s currently at a day into town with Jacob, and Mel’s got a project to work on. I’m tired of Leela glaring at us, Paige doesn’t like seeing us and the others ignore us. So, why not?”

Shrugging in defeat, Natalie just simply agreed. There was even a smile that cracked on her face. “You know if we go down there, we should probably pack a snack and grab some evidence bags just in case.”

“You get the snacks and I’ll grab the bags.” I suggested and we quickly snapped into action. Gathering up our things and tossing them into our backpacks, we made our way to the cellar and back into the tunnels. Despite us knowing that it was a bright, sunny day outside, underground was still the same impenetrable blackness. Only my white blue LED flashlight could cut through the darkness. I kept my voice low as I talked to Natalie. She was creeping behind me and trying her best to be as light on her feet as possible.

“What happens if we come to a fork in the road?”

“Then we’ll just pick a pathway and stick to it.” I waved off her question as we continued forth. We had long since passed the spot where Leela and Jacob played board games. Now we were making our way through a narrower passageway. Staring at the ground, I spotted a fresh patch of footprints. One was a regular man’s size and the other was that of a tiny toddler. ‘Why would a toddler be roaming through these tunnels?’

“Hey, what’s that up ahead?” 

Wishing that Natalie would try to keep her voice down, I pointed my flashlight up ahead. It was a grey door. Immediately, I wondered where it led to. Natalie, apparently, saw the puzzling look on my face. “Do you think it could be the door to Oxborough?” 

“Probably.” I muttered. “But there’s only one way to find out.”

“Wait.” She snagged my arm and had a worried gaze. “We don’t know if that’s what behind the door. And I don’t want to get caught by anybody or Paige’ll be...”

“Oh Paige won’t even hear about it.” I assured her as I wrapped my fingers around the cold door handle. Swinging the door open, we found nothing more than a jumbled mess of supplies stacked in an ordinary closet. I pushed my way through the mess or mops and brooms and Natalie followed. 

“I still don’t like this.” Natalie mumbled as she followed. 

“I just want a quick peak.” Reaching the second door after stepping over the horde of cleaning supplies, I was about to peak when someone beat me to it. A young man wearing a plain uniform with khaki pants stared at the both of us in silence. He was stunned and I could see the anger slowly building in his face. Thankfully, when she heard the doorknob turning, Natalie had the foresight to shut the door to the tunnel before the guy could see it. 

Crossing his well-toned, hairy arms, the man gestured for us to come out of the closet. I knew it was best not to argue. So, we complied and walked out of the closet. He had a handsome head of thick brown hair neatly gelled. Bright, blue eyes were now concentrating on the both of us. That combined with his tapping foot led me to believe he was about to rip us a new one.

Finally, he spoke in a commanding tone. “What are the two of you girls doing here at Oxborough?”

“Well…we were…um.” Natalie nervously fumbled with her words as she tried to form a reasonable explanation. 

“I’m sorry but we’re a bit lost.” I cut in. Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, the guy waited for me to continue. “This is the all-girls school Waverly, isn’t it?”

“No. I think it’s obvious that it’s not.”

“Right, but all these buildings look the same from the outside and we must’ve gotten turned around.” 

“Then how did you end up in the closet?”

“It was another mistake.” I worked hard to keep an even tone. Even though I doubted he was buying our story, he couldn’t really deny it either unless I gave him an opening to. 

“Oh, this is as good as the time Stanley Joon told me he saw an alien spaceship.” The man snorted. He tugged at his shirt sleeves and straightened his back. “Well, Waverly is just down the road and you can tell them that Victor Arion sent back.”

Whistling, Victor summoned a balding, dwarfed man dressed in a frumpy, navy blue janitor outfit. In his left hand was a broomstick and with him came the pungent stench of onions and tuna fish. He stopped once he reached Victor. “You called, Vic?”

“Please escort these girls out of here, if you don’t mind Rudy?”

“Of course I don’t.” Rudy’s smile showed signs of yellowing teeth. His pockets bulged with some sort of items hiding in his pockets. That and he jingled with every step he took. Deciding it would be best not to argue, me and Natalie followed along right behind him. 

Oxborough was an impressive boy’s school. It had the same feeling as an old historic building with its stain glass windows and wood pillars. Even the tile floors shinned with a glistening sheen. And yet, Rudy didn’t strike me as the type to care about his janitorial job. Something about his jaunt and glares at students passing by made her suspicious. 

We came to the doors in a matter of minutes and he held them open. “Have a nice day, ladies.” He took off his caps and politely bowed. Thanking him, we hightailed it out of there. Getting our bearings, I briefly noticed a large fountain with one of the statutes missing. But that didn’t matter at all. What mattered was that we were doomed once we got back to Waverly. Paige would make sure of that.


	14. Junior Detective Update #7

MysteriousSymphony-

We…are…so dead…I’m not joking guys. WE are just…dead. 

I told her that we shouldn’t go too far in the tunnels, but no. Oh, no. EvidencePainter just had to see what was behind the door. We just HAD to go exploring and it couldn’t wait until tonight. Well…that figures.

So, yeah. Now we’re walking back to Waverly where Paige, the resident drill sergeant, will probably yell at us and kick us out. I mean, that depends on if Victor tells on us. Who am I kidding? He will. Guys, this will most likely be our last update and I don’t want to type that much because it’s on my phone and it’s sunny outside. Squinting your eyes can get annoying.

Ugh. We just got back to the school. Guess there’ s no way around it. Wish us luck, guys.

Time: 12:03.44 p.m., March 23rd, 2014


	15. Midnight Snacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> COOKIES!

Oh man. When I had written the words “we are so dead” on the detective website that afternoon, I couldn’t have guessed what was to come. Apparently, Victor somehow had Paige’s phone number and he had called her almost immediately after we left. That gave her time to stew before we arrived and by then, there was no hope for us. Yessica and I had stood there silently flinching at each harsh word. By the time she was done yelling at us, I thought we were going to be kicked out.

And yet, by some miracle, Paige let her anger melt away and she straightened her jacket. She pulled her smart phone out of her pocket and tapped the touchscreen. Her eyes widened and the blood appeared to drain from her face. With a dismal wave of her right hand, she muttered that this was our only warning. I refused to move until I heard the clicking of her heels climbing up the staircase.

The sting of Paige’s lecture was still ringing in my ears, even this late at night. I lie awake underneath the covers with the rest of the afternoon racing through my mind. And I only had one question; why did Paige let us stay? We had disobeyed her rules and she had made it clear that any rule-breaking would result in being kicked out. So, why were we still here?

But now, my mind (which was unfortunately still keeping me awake) shifted to a different topic. I could feel my stomach grumble in protest begging me for food. Dinner with my sister was hours ago and, with nothing in my stomach; it was twisting in uncomfortable knots. 

Standing up, I tiptoed around the minefield of stuff scattered across the floor. I was unsure if Yessica would be awake and knew exactly what would become of me if I did wake her up. Paige’s little outburst would be nothing compared to the wrath I would face. Snagging my sweatpants from the drawer, I stuffed my legs into them. To my amazement, Yessica sat up and clicked on the light. There was no hint of sleepiness or anger on her face.

I started to explain what I was doing, but she shook her head to say it wasn’t necessary. In a flash, she was also hiding her pajama shorts under her grey sweatpants. “You couldn’t sleep either?”

“Nawh.” I stuck my arms into a light hoodie jacket and made sure to grab my flashlight. “I’m too hungry. You?”

“Ditto.” She nodded. 

“Yeah.” Turning on my flashlight, I kept talking. “Between my stomach and wondering about Paige bein’ merciful to us, I can’t fall asleep.”

“I think if we’re careful we can nab some cookies from the snack bar.”

Yessica’s suggestion made my mouth water. Warm, chewy chocolate chip cookies sounded heavenly. So, with our trusted flashlights in hands, we departed for yet another midnight mission. Probably not the smartest move considering our track record. Yet, a plateful of chocolate chip cookies would be completely worth it.

Like a cat, Yessica barely made a sound as her bare feet padded across the cold wood floor. She crept along the side of the wall as if she was searching the dorm room. I figured her Explorers training was kicking in. Whenever she hung around her cop friends, she tended to get into that mode and pick up their habits. Keeping up with her fast pace, I took up my usual spot right behind her. 

In no time at all, we were downstairs and quietly cooking a dozen of the delicious cookies. I felt the warmth of the oven on my fingers as I reached inside for another tasty treat. We had finished baking all of the dozen cookies and were both devouring them. Our backs were pressed against the snack bar while we ate. That was when the worst possible thing could happen. We heard footsteps stomping down the stairs.

“When is this going to let up?” 

I could recognize that voice anywhere now. My whole body went rigid as Paige’s shoes hit the floor. She paced in front of the snack bar and didn’t seem to notice either me or Yessica. 

“You can’t keep calling and threatening me! I can take my phone to the police and they can trace this number. “ She paused and listened for a few moments. In fact, when she stopped talking, the entire dorm was eerily silent. That silence was shattered when Paige growled. “You wouldn’t dare.”

Storming out of the room and presumably outside, Paige disappeared. Both Yessica and I breathed a sigh of relief. It didn’t take us long to rush back safely upstairs. At least on this floor, we could say we were on our way to the bathroom and it wouldn’t be a farfetched excuse. But instead of heading for the room, Yessica continued forward toward Paige’s room.

“What’re you doing, Yessica?” I whispered. Turning around, she had her flashlight bearing down on my eyes. 

“Paige’s being threatened by someone and I wanna find out who.” 

“But what if Paige catches us in her room? She’ll really kick us out then!”

“Pipe down and maybe she won’t catch us.” 

My mouth clamped shut as we pushed open her dorm door. It was unlocked, which was really unusual considering that every time I had tried her door before it was locked. And there we were, rummaging through her room with the door hanging wide open. With my heart pounding in my ears, I worked as fast as I could dig through her trashcan. Doing so lead me to find a note buried at the bottom. Pulling it out, I recognized the same faded brown paper and red markings. There was no doubt this was one of the notes like the one we found outside in the bushes. It had the familiar words on it, “Death to those who sink too deep.”

“Hey,” Yessica poked me in the shoulders and gestured for me to stand up. “Come check this out.”

My knees cracked as I lifted myself from the hard wood floor. Yessica was leaning over what appeared to be a day planner. Paige’s red pen had been scribbling all over the planner. Most of it was boring school stuff, until my eyes caught sight of a circle. It said, “Go see L.A. tonight.”

“Who’s L.A.?” I wondered out loud. 

“Guess that’s on our list to find out.” Another object seemed to catch her eye. “Hey, Nat. Does this look familiar to you?” Her finger was pointing at a small statue of a stone ox. It was identical to the statues Yessica had noticed yesterday at Oxborough’s outside fountain. Before I could blink, Yessica snatched the statue and started walking out of the room.

I quickly followed and remembered to quietly shut the door. And once we got back into our room, I allowed myself to get a bit louder when confronting Yessica. “Why did you steal that statue from Paige? That’s going to make her suspicious.”

“Because,” Yessica was now digging through the drawers in search of something. The grey statue was perched on her desk and was illuminated by the lamplight. When she did find what she was looking for, she pulled out a dark blue one piece swimsuit. It was one of her practice tight suits like some of the ones I had. “Something’s going on around here and we’ve got to find out who’s responsible for this.” 

“So…you really think…”

“If Paige is being threatened, then it’s definitely real. So now,” Looking up, she had a twinkled in her eye as she raised an eyebrow. “We’re going back into the tunnels to investigate.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. Now that we knew someone was threatening Paige, this was starting to get serious. Like, calling the police serious. Despite my reservations, I knew Yessica wouldn’t rest until she personally went and explored every section of those tunnels. I decided to save my breath and went to throw on some decent clothes.


	16. Junior Detective Update #8

EvidencePainter-

Location: RA’s dorm room

Subject: Paige Griffon (Again)

Assessment: (Secondary)

Receiving phone calls early in the morning. Mentioned something about threats and to leave someone out of it. Sounds familiar. Maybe something to do with the mysterious lady roaming around? Maybe a fellow dorm mate? Maybe an ex-boyfriend? Surprisingly didn’t smell cooked cookies. Possibly can’t smell as well as other people? Too distracted? Also found her daily planner. Was correct in assumption of overstressed. Crazy schedule that’s completely blocked off. And she wrote down to meet up with L.A. Who is L.A.? Are they important? Is that who’s threatening her? New boyfriend perhaps? Side note: Yesterday, she was distracted by her phone during rant. MysteriousSymmphony just as curious about it. Perhaps it was a threatening message.

Evidence:

Found an ox statue matching the ones on the fountain at Oxborough. And one is missing. Coincidence? I think not.  
Bagged: yet another note. This time, definitely for Paige. Found in her trashcan. A bit contaminated, but nothing definitive yet.  
Conclusion:

1\. Paige is in trouble and needs our help.

2\. Cookies are delicious.

3\. Someone is definitely coming and going to Waverly at night.

Objective:

1\. Explore the tunnels.

2\. Find the lady in red.

3\. Protect Paige.

4\. Figure out who L.A. is and the association with Paige.

Time: 1:00.59 a.m., Date: March 24th, 2014


	17. Watery Hideout

With my swimsuit straps digging into my skin, I quickly climbed down the basement stairs. Like always, Natalie was just behind me, but she didn’t have her swimsuit on. She said something about forgetting to bring it on the trip. But I think it’s because she was uncertain about what lay in the deep watery pool. It was one of her bad habits of imagining monsters where there probably were none. I tried to reassure her that nothing would have it, but she would have none of it.

So, it looked as though I was the only one venturing through the water tonight. We had to get down there first. In the dark of the basement, Natalie switched on the lights and we made our way to the slab of bricks. She pushed in the combination which by now she had memorized. The hole in the floor reappeared and we fell through. At the end of the slide, we both skillfully landed.

Wiping some dust off of her sweatpants, Natalie sighed. She rubbed her eyes and released a yawn. “One of these days, this lack of sleep is gonna get to me.”

“Oh, quit being a baby.” I rolled my eyes and hit my flashlight a few times. The light was dimming since I had been using it so frequently in the past few days.

“But I’m not used to getting so little sleep.”

By now, I wasn’t even listening. My frustration was mounting due to my tired state and failing flashlight. I fiddled through my pockets because I swore I had an extra pair of batteries in case this happened. To my dismay, I had apparently forgotten to do just that. “Damn it. Do you have any batteries?”

Natalie appeared surprised at my outburst. She wasn’t exactly a huge fan of cussing or angry tones. I took note of her uneasiness and sent her an apologetic gaze. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she grabbed something and extended her hand. “Here ya go.” She dropped a couple of batteries in my hand and I quickly switched them out. With my intense beam back in action, we maneuvered the familiar territory to the right doorway. 

Being down here so many times before, both Natalie and I were becoming expert navigators in these tunnels. We bypassed a rock that had stubbed out toe the other night. We shuffled past shards of broken glass and cobwebs. We waded through small puddles. We did all this until we reached the point where we had caught Leela and Jacob playing checkers that first night. And, unfortunately for us, as we approached we saw a light up ahead.

“Aw man.” Mumbling under her breath, Natalie’s reaction mirrored my own. There was Jacob, sitting on his plastic chair staring at a chess board. He had a torch burning above him and was holding a flashlight. Once he heard Natalie speak, he whirled around and shone the light in our faces.

“Leela?” There was a desperate tone in his voice which was quickly followed by a disappointing scowl. “Oh, it’s just you two.”

“Nice to see you too.” I growled. I didn’t enjoy the arrogant, cocky, and obnoxious personality type that Jacob was. Letting a smirk cross my face, I pointed to the board game. “What? No Leela tonight? Did you manage to piss her off?”

Now he really didn’t appreciate that comment. He abruptly stood up and clenched his fist. Bright blue eyes were blazing with anger at the mention of the touchy subject. “Yeah. What’s it to ya?” 

By now, I had figured it was his confrontational pose he assumed almost like a protective shield. This time, however, it didn’t work. Even Natalie wasn’t afraid and stepped forward to stand between us. I took that as a hint to back down and turned around to head to the waterway. “Just where do you think you’re going?” Jacob’s voice echoed throughout the tunnels. I completely ignored him and began sliding off my lose clothes. 

Behind me, Natalie was working hard to avoid confrontation. Her feet dug into the dirt as I presumed she was holding Jacob back. “She’s just going to explore the water because we think there’s someone else using the tunnels.” Pausing for a moment, she asked him a question. “By the way, have you seen anyone else down here beside you?”

By now, I was dipping into the cold water. It sent shivers down my spine as I let my shoulders sink beneath the calm water. Behind me, Jacob and Natalie were continuing their conversation. He wasn’t exactly being forthcoming, but Natalie’s persistence finally had him back in his chair.

“Beat me in a game of chess and I’ll give you an answer.” He challenged. 

Ignoring the rest of their conversation, I tucked my flashlight, which was waterproof, under my suit strap. My body became acclimated to the water temperature as I swam further out. It didn’t appear that deep. If I stretched my legs enough I could touch the rocky bottom. I started wondering where this water even came from. Perhaps a leaky pipeline had flooded. Or there was an underground river that had carved out the tunnels and was drying out. Maybe someone decided to water the tunnels down.

Up ahead, there was the familiar darkness. I could now easily adjust my eyes and was able to see somewhat. Didn’t help that my glasses were lying back where I left my clothes. That made bumping into sharp pointy rocks hurt all the more. With my flashlight in my right hand, I illuminated the cavern. Now looking around and seeing where I was going wasn’t as much of a strain. 

I felt my way around the water and around rocks jutting up from underneath. They were smooth thanks to the water erosion sanding them down. Glancing up at the ceiling, I could tell that it was getting lower. ‘I must be coming to a dead end.’ I figured. And sure enough, there was an embankment right in front of me. 

It wasn’t anything special. Just a sturdy strip of dirt that appeared to lead to a dead end. As I climbed up on it, I noticed that someone had stacked a couple of crates along the tunnel wall. “Hello, what have we here?”

I crouched down and fingered the wooden crates. Pulling, I soon discovered that they were sealed shut. I attempted to rip off the lid, but it was no use. There was no way I could pry it open without a crowbar. So instead, I worked to identify what kind of crate it was. On the side, there was a logo that was for Flying Cow Productions along with the word fragile. 

‘This is odd.’ I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. How did these crates get down here? Flying Cow Productions didn’t sound like a company that was around whenever the tunnels were dug out. So, does that mean someone is accessing the tunnels and carting these around? If so, what was inside that they wanted to keep hidden?

On top of being closed, the crates were also extremely heavy. They refused to budge as I pressed against them. Thankfully, I didn’t have to do so for long. My eyes caught a shiny white object right next to my foot. I picked it up and it was a small chunk of cut diamond. It was almost exactly the same size and shape as the red stone we had come across the other day. 

Why was I finding these small gems left and right? Did they come from these crates? I shook my head as I faced these daunting questions. One thing was certain; there was only one way to find the answers. I had to find a crowbar by tomorrow night and open up these boxes. As determined as ever, I tucked away everything into the straps of my suit.

With my heart racing, I plunged back into the water and quickly swam back to the other shore. Sitting across to Jacob, Natalie tossed me the towel I had brought down and wrapped up her conversation. It had appeared she had not only calmed Jacob down, but had actually gotten through to him. He smiled and waved goodbye as we left. She even returned the gesture as we made our trek back.

“Get any information from him?” I wrapped the warm towel around my slender frame to keep myself from shivering. 

“Yeah. He’s definitely seen some strange things when he started coming down here. I made sure to write it all down so I would remember what he had said.” Unleashing a yawn, Natalie stretched and smacked her lips together. “Did you find anything?”

Placing my hand on her shoulder, I chuckled. “Yeah, but you’re so tired I don’t think you can see straight. How about we sleep and go over it all tomorrow? I think I’ll have to search for a crowbar and head back down here to confirm my hunch anyways.”

“Ok. Sounds good.” She agreed as we exited the tunnels.


	18. Junior Detective Update #9

MysteriousSymphony-

Hey guys. I swear this lack of sleep is going to be the death of me. Why does all of our investigation have to occur at night? I mean, I’m not built for this! I need my sleep. But nope. No sleep for me. So, if I happen to collapse from exhaustion and fall asleep in an instant, you know what happened to me.

But anyways, I got to talk to Jacob last night. He’s actually kind of nice and surprisingly not bad at chess. After EvidencePainter went searching, we talked some while we were making our moves. He’s under a lot of pressure to perform as an athlete and that Izzy was a really demanding girlfriend. That combined with his boredom, trouble with his parents and grades, bad sleeping habits, and ticking Leela off was why he had such a short fuse lately. I was actually somewhat surprised that he opened up so quickly. I mean, who would’ve guessed how thirty minutes of playing a game with him would completely change my view of him? And he was amazed that I actually managed to beat him at a game. Then he told me everything that had happened.

Apparently, since he and Leela started coming down here, they had both noticed a few shadows and thought they saw someone rounding the corner. One time, they were scared away by a hideous lady in red. Other times, they noticed crates and equipment suddenly appearing and disappearing on random nights. That means someone besides us knows and uses the tunnels. We might have to get a map of the tunnels and see if we can find any of the mysterious lady’s hiding spots. 

Oh well, I think EvidencePainter is stirring and we both are gonna head back into the tunnels this morning. I’d better get ready to go. I’ll you guys updated as much as possible.

Time: 6:55.11 a.m. Date: March 24th, 2014


	19. Secrets Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are starting to get interesting.

I struggled to keep my eyes open as I munched on a banana. My body wasn’t too used to getting so little sleep and I needed all the energy I could get. This wasn’t exactly a thrilling turn of events for Yessica. She pretended the lack of sleep wasn’t getting to her, but it was. That and the smell of my banana were making her nauseous. 

“Do you have to eat that now?” She grumbled as we headed down to the tunnels. 

Swallowing the mushy fruit, I nodded. “You want me to be awake to help you with the crates, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I have to have something to eat.” I could tell that she was unamused with me judging by her glare. Both of us were on the brink of snapping at each other. Of course, Yessica’s inability to find a crowbar last night like she wanted to was also probably contributing to her crankiness. 

“Well if you weren’t so conditioned to fall asleep around 10 every night then you’d be ok right now.” She snapped. 

Even though I was hurt by the comment, I ignored it and chucked the banana peel on the ground. I hoped my silence would be enough of a signal that I didn’t appreciate the comment. But, it probably would’ve worked better if she was actually facing me instead of punching in the combo for the tunnel. Tucking my arms under my armpits, I stifled another yawn.

I was kind of getting tired of being the useless one. After all, it seemed to be Yessica doing all the deductions and heavy lifting. She went swimming to find mysterious crates. She had been collecting all the evidence. She was calling the shots and making the brave decisions. Leave it to Yessica to take charge. All the while, I was toddling along behind her like a child trying to keep up. And nothing seemed to change as we descended to the tunnels. 

Once inside, we were still not speaking to each other. Though, I figured it was because both I and Yessica were concentrating on what we would do when we find the crates. She had shown me the diamond after I woke her up. ‘What could it mean?’ I wondered. Was someone walking around with a bag full of gems and just accidently dropping him? And coupled with the information Jacob gave me last night, the pieces were possibly starting to fit together. 

Somehow, the mysterious red lady was connected with this. I wasn’t sure exactly why she was “haunting” Waverly, but it had something to do with these random gems we had found. And we wouldn’t rest until we got to the bottom of it. 

Heading back to the pool of water, I finally decided to speak again. “Hey, do you think we’ll find anymore gems in the crates? That could be what they’re carrying.”

“Maybe…” Yessica suddenly froze and snagged my elbow to stop me from moving forward. About to ask her what was wrong, I dared not speak when she pressed a finger to her lips. That was when I heard the whispering voices up ahead. We both took up position behind a corner and stayed put for a moment. 

My heart pounded against my rib cage as I listened intently. I had no idea we would be facing the people this early. If I did, I would’ve brought a weapon or prepared myself for a confrontation. But, as the voices drew nearer, I noticed one of them sounded like a kid. ‘What would a kid be doing down here?’ I asked myself. It couldn’t mean that they were dangerous.

Tapping Yessica on the shoulders, I communicated this using sign language. She acknowledged that she understood and we both stepped out from behind the corner to face them. Standing in front of us was Victor Arion holding onto a three year old toddler. The toddler was giggling and babbling in his arms while tracing his fingers over Victor’s mouth.

In complete shock and disbelief, Victor’s eyes widened and his tanned skin turned pale. He clearly had no idea he wasn’t alone in the tunnels. And the toddler even stopped to stare at us. The little guy had short golden blonde hair and blue eyes that looked exactly like Victor’s.

Secretly, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was happy it was just him and not the mysterious lady in red. But now, I was focused on why Victor was carrying a small child through these dangerous tunnels. Yessica must’ve shared my thoughts because that’s the first comment she made. “Well, Victor. Fancy meeting you here at a time like this.”

Biting his lips, he tapped his fingers and kept pushing the kid’s hand out of his face. “I…uh…” he was stumbling with his words as if he had no words to explain anything. So, I seized the opportunity to step forward and wave at the toddler.

“Hiya, little guy.” 

At first, he was shy and wrapped his arms around Victor. But after a couple rounds of peek-a-boo, he came around and begged to be let down on the ground. “Down.” He ordered. This let Victor snap out of his shock and he shook his head.

“No, Louis. We have to go soon, remember?” 

Louis pouted and buried his head in Victor’s shoulders. While he was having an episode, I had a sudden flash of brilliance. My lips curled into a smile as I looked at Yessica. “I think we’ve discovered who L.A. is.”

I could tell that Yessica understood. Victor, however, was still confused. “How do you know Louis is my kid?”

“We don’t just know that Louis is your kid.” Yessica raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. “He’s also Paige’s kid.”

That revelation caused Victor to sigh in defeat. His shoulders slumped and he wouldn’t even look at us as we waited for his explanation. “Yes. Paige is his mother.” Pausing to collect himself, he took a deep breath and continued. “We met each other when we were both freshman and we both fell for each other. I did a couple of things to impress her and each night we would meet down here in the tunnels to talk and make out. Then, one night, we just got a little carried away, and before I knew it, Paige called with the news. She was hysterical and said she her parents would never forgive her if they knew she was pregnant. So, we’ve kept Louis a secret ever since.”

My jaw had nearly fallen to the floor. A thousand questions raced through my mind. How did Paige keep that a secret? Wouldn’t they notice her bulging tummy? Where did Louis live? How was Victor able to take care of him all these years? What would happen to him when his parents graduate? Of course, I didn’t voice any of my questions. I let Victor keep talking.

“I usually take him to daycare right about now and pick him up around four. Then he either stays in my room or stays with a friend at the stables or stay at my parents’ house. Sometimes even Paige gets to see him. And I take him back to my room where we eat and sleep and play.” Lowering his head, Victor brushed his hand through his head.

“Wow.” I stated. “That’s heavy.”

“So,” Lifting up his head, he continued. “I guess you’re going to report me now, right?”

“As if.” Yessica rolled her eyes and patted Victor on the shoulders. “We wouldn’t want little Louis to be taken from ya. No body’s that heartless.”

“Oh, thank you.” A smile reappeared on Victor’s lips. He was extremely excited that we were willing to keep his secret. 

“But you have to let us go to Oxborough whenever we want.” She added. 

“Why?”

“Let’s just say we’re investigating some strange goings-on and we might need to head back there to search for clues.”

“Sure. But only at night.” Victor obliged. Glancing down at his watch, he groaned. “I’m sorry guys, but Louis is going to be late for daycare if I don’t head out right now.”

“Wait!” I cried out. He stopped mid-stride and turned back toward me. “Have you been receiving any letters from red death or seen a lady in red roaming around down here?”

He thought for a moment before answering. “Nope. But Paige and some of the other girls have been complaining about getting notes and being awake in the middle of the night by footsteps. Try talking to one of them.”

“Alright.” We both said as we waved goodbye. Little Louis lifted his tiny hand and waved back. 

“Bye bye.” He called out as they disappeared toward the exit. Letting my hand drop to my side, I turned to Yessica.

“So, change of plans?”

“Yep.” Cracking her fingers, she nodded in agreement. “Time we start asking some questions.”


	20. Junior Detective Update #10

EvidencePainter-

Location: Underground Tunnel System

Subjects: Victor Arion and Louis Arion

Assessment:

Randomly appears in tunnel system carrying a child. Toddler is his and someone else’s. Sworn to secrecy so cannot disclose that information. Cannot disclose information surrounding birth circumstances either. (Sorry guys. Some things should stay private.) Seen him before, but this time, he’s stressed out and compromised. Clearly didn’t think anyone else knew about the tunnels. Possibly under duress due to our sudden arrival? Why does he use the tunnels to travel through? Perhaps the secret is too much of a burden. Has usual signs of lack of sleep and stress. Is his son keeping him up at night? Does his mother help out occasionally? Does he harbor ill feelings toward the mother?

Louis seems like a typical impatient three year old. Self-absorbed and enjoys a game of peek-a-boo. A bit cranky thanks to early morning commute. Shy, but quickly warms up to others.

Evidence:

Possible lead. Victor says some girls, including Louis’s mother, are receiving the same threats.  
Conclusion:

Louis is adorable.  
Victor needs sleep.  
Red Lady targets more than one person.  
Objective:

Speak with everyone and find out who has a note.  
Remember to find a crowbar and open up the crates.  
Time: 7:24.06 a.m. Date: March 24th, 2014


	21. Dumpster Diving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The not so fun part of investigating.

Sitting across from me was Mel’s spunky roommate, Megan Vargas. We had met once before, a casual exchange while Natalie was talking with her older sister. Back then, there wasn’t much to evaluate. Megan was just a typical roommate who wasn’t the best of friends, but not the worst of enemies. A mutual agreement of sharing space, but only space. Yet now, with everyone becoming a suspect, I studied her more closely.

Blonde hair in a pixie cut with dark eye shadow making her lime green eyes pop. Pale skin with only a slight hint of pink signified that she wasn’t a fan of the sun. Pink button down shirt with a black cardigan covering her arms and wrist. Potentially hiding scars or just susceptible to cold? At the moment, it was impossible to tell. The lamp light hit her just right so that she was illuminated by its gaze. I had hoped that would cause her some distress and make her more vulnerable to answer questions. So far, no recognizable effect.

Why was I scrutinizing her so intently? Because all of our other leads had dried up. Leela barely spoke to us because she was so infuriated that Natalie had played a game with Jacob. I guess that made her extremely jealous or just still sore from Izzy seducing him away from her. Either way, now Natalie was extra cautious and quickens her pace when she encounters Leela in the hallway.

Rachel and Kim weren’t helpful, though it wasn’t for lack of trying. They tried to remember, but both had been so focused on their studies, they hadn’t been paying enough attention to details or gossip going around the dorm. Can’t fault them for that. 

We couldn’t go to Mel or Izzy. If they knew we were waist deep in an investigation, they’d yell at us and keep us from digging anything up. And besides, we would’ve been the first to hear if they were receiving notes. Paige was still out of the question. She was the one being tormented and, unless she’s a masterminding genius, it was safe to say she wasn’t the lady in red. 

That left only one possible candidate, and she was eyeing me suspiciously. Sinking into the overstuffed chair in the lobby, I nodded at Natalie who had taken up the piano bench she had relocated. She had a pen and her notebook ready to go and gave me a thumb up. Refocusing my attention on Megan, I leaned forward and folded my hands neatly into my lap. 

“Alright, Ms. Vargas.” I readjusted my glasses before going on. “It appears that you are the only one we have left to interview regarding...”

“Is this about those stupid notes?” She interrupted. I heard Natalie scribble furiously and I cocked an eyebrow.

“How did you know what I was going to ask?”

Snorting out a chuckle, Megan placed her feet on the coffee table and glanced around before answering. “Word is, there’s these Red Death notes going around and you two have been asking about it.”

“Make a note, Natalie. We must be more stealthy and discrete in the future.” I ordered. She did just that while I continued. “So, now that you know what we were gonna ask you, care to enlighten us?”

There was a brief moment of hesitation. Then she allowed herself to casually shrug. “Sure, I don’t get what the big deal is. They’re just stupid pranks.” Scooting closer to the edge of her seat, she rested her elbows on her knees and stared directly at me as she spoke. “I’ve gotten a few. We all have, but after the whole Black Cat thing I’m guessing it’s all just a hoax or prank.”

“I believe that’s for us to decide.” I cut in. Shocked at the seriousness of my tone, she paused not sure if she wanted to continue. 

“Ok…” Clearing her throat, she prattled on. “It usually happens if we end up sneaking around at night. Like, one night I went to the bathroom and the next day, a note appears. Same for the other girls too.”

“And these notes, were they always vague death threats?”

“Well, yeah, but so far as I know, no one’s acted on them.”

“I see…” Uncrossing my legs, I also leaned forward and made certain to have eye contact. “And who had recently received a note?”

“I think Danielle Hayes did.” Megan confessed.

“You mean the girl who’s room we’re staying in?” Natalie asked. Shaking her head yes, Megan gestured to Natalie and took the notepad out of her hands. Jotting something down, she returned it to Natalie when she had finished.

“That’s her cell number. I don’t remember what she did with it before she left, but I’d bet she would.” Standing up, she crossed her arms. “We through?

“Yes.” I relieved her of answering further questions. She ducked out of the room as if she was relieved to be out of there. Already, Natalie had her phone out of her pocket and was typing in the number. 

“So, you think she’s the culprit?” She asked as the phone rang. 

“Nope. Not enough points to her.” I answered. “And I don’t think she knows any more than we do.”

“Yeah, I figured.” She stopped talking a moment and held up her finger. “Hi, is this Danielle?”

I let her speak with Danielle while I began to pace again. Despite Megan’s strong belief that this was a prank, I was far from convinced. What kind of prank required threatening a three year old or tormenting and blackmailing one person? My conclusion? None.

“Ok, thank you. Bye.” Natalie clicked off her phone and sighed. “She says that after she saw a woman in red at night, she started receiving the notes. And she also said she threw it into the trashcan before she left.” Then, there was a horrified look in her eyes and something suddenly dawned on her. “And I think I took the trash bag to the dumpster!”

“Great.” I groaned. Dumpster diving wasn’t one of the activities I guessed that we would’ve done today. What had to be done had to be done. Rolling up my sleeves, I glared at her. “Come on.”

Moments later, we were both knee deep in stinky trash. Rotten food squished beneath my shoes. There was the occasional crunch of Styrofoam cups or the clanking of glass bottles. A foul smell burned in my nostrils while I frantically searched. The small green dumpster walls appeared to be closing in, threatening to bury me alive underneath mounds of trash.

Natalie wasn’t fairing much better. Shuffling around with her feet, she was avoiding touching the trash with her fingers. Every time she spoke, it was with a nasally tone like her nose was stuffed up with snot. “Look for a green trash bag.” She cried.

Her face was streaked with tears thanks to uncovering a rotten onion. “And be sure not to step here. It’s sticky.”

“Ok.” I fumbled around some more until I spotted something interesting. It wasn’t the trash bag, but it was a Krolmeister employee planner. What was it doing sitting in a dorm dumpster?

“Found it!” Breathing a sigh of relief, Natalie hauled the decorated bag out from a crammed corner. Once she yanked it lose, she clambered out of the dumpster before I could even say a word. Not to say I wasn’t far behind. I’d had enough of garbage for one day.

When out feet touched solid ground, Natalie immediately ripped the trash bag open and found the Red Death note. It said, “Next time, death will find you.”

“Well, nothing special about this one.” Natalie shrugged as she turned the paper over in her hand. “Same paper, hand writing, and red spattered pattern as the other notes.” Smoothing out her hair, she seemed defeated as she stuffed the note into our growing evidence bag. “Guess we found this for nothing.”

“Not necessarily.” I waved the planner in front of her face and allowed a smile to cross my lips. “Found this while we were hunting for the note.”

“Really?” Taking it out of my hands, she began examining the black leather and silver inscribed letters.

“Geez. Grabby much?”

“Oh, sorry.” She halfheartedly apologized. Too much of her attention was focused on the planner. “But what is this doing here? I don’t think anyone at Waverly would carry one of these.”

“I’m glad I’m not the only one that finds this weird.” 

Suddenly, she gasped as if an idea had slammed into her head. “Didn’t we see some Krolmeister buildings on our way up here?”

“Yeah.” That seemed like more than a happy coincidence to me. But what was the motive? Why would someone from Krolmeister be interested in an all-girls school? For that matter, what was so important at the school that could potentially drive someone to threaten everybody?

Opening the planner up, Natalie pulled her phone from her pocket. She handed the book back to me and placed a finger on an underlined phone number. It was the one who owned the booklet. “Lena Skinner. I wonder what she’ll have to say about her lost planner.”

“Oh, put it on speaker.” I wanted to listen in as well. She did just that and we both patiently waited for the ringing to stop. When it did, we had meant Lena would answer. But, to our dismay, all we got was an answering machine. It was a woman’s voice telling them that it was a holiday for the front desk clerk of Krolmeister Industries and to leave a name and number. 

Disappointed, Natalie hung up. “Swell. Now we have to wait ‘til tomorrow. What are we going to do now?”

I thought about it for a minute. What were we going to do? We had enough information to cause suspicion that there was something going on. Maybe it was time to use that to our advantage. “Come on.” I gestured for her to follow as I rounded the corner. She hurried along behind me.

“What are we going to do?”

“It’s time we get more answers from a certain someone who’s been keeping secrets from us.”

“You don’t mean…”

“Yes. I do.” I continued walking in a confident stride. Refusing to be intimidated, I was going to get the answers I sought. With her shoulders sagging, Natalie cringed as she tagged along.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Yessica.”


	22. Junior Detective Update #11

MysteriousSymphony–

Interview Notes:

Purpose-To discover who has been getting notes and why them. Could one of the girls be the Red Death Lady? Does one of them know more than they’re letting on?

Paige Griffon- Obviously receiving notes, since we found one in her trashcan. No need for interview. Unless she’s a criminal mastermind, she’s not doing this to herself. Label: Victim.

Izzy Romero- Don’t think she’s getting any notes based on the fact that she hasn’t said a word about it. No real cause for an interview. Yessica hesitant to call her a suspect. I’ll keep her in mind as a suspect, but WAY down on the list. No real concern. Label: Secondary Suspect

Mel Corbalis- Definitely not receiving any notes. She’d have told me about how stupid they would be like she did for the Black Cat notes. Trying to keep her away from the investigation so she can’t shut us down. Not considered a suspect. Label: Innocent

Kim and Rachel Hubbard- Not really receiving any notes. Willing to cooperate, no suspicion there. Mainly stayed inside their room thanks to being slammed with homework over the break. They can’t remember anything (convenient amnesia?) and don’t know about the other girls. Label: Secondary Suspect

Leela Yadav- Doesn’t even want to talk to us. Says she’s angry at me for playing chess with Jacob and that he bragged about it to her. (Note: Remind myself to yell at him for that next time I see him!) So upset hasn’t even answered the question. Guessing that she may have received a note and keeping suspicions open. Label: Suspect

Megan Vargas- Uneasy while in hot seat. Hiding something from us? She seems to be forthcoming with information. Definitely knowledgeable about what we’re doing. Says it’s because of gossip. Not sure if that’s true. Also says she hasn’t been getting any notes. Not sure if that’s true either. All she will admit is that Danielle Hayes got one. Label: Suspect

Danielle Hayes- Gave us location of her note. Away so, no way to be a suspect. Label: Innocent

Lena Skinner- Not a dorm girl and no interview. Appears to be a desk clerk at Krolmeister. Found planner in dumpster, but don’t know why. What’s her connection? Has skyrocketed to top of suspect list. Label: Primary Suspect

Common Occurrence: Saw Red Death Lady at night or snuck around at night. Like me… (Note: expect note in future).

Time: 11:14.32 a.m. Date: March 22th, 2014


	23. Confronting the Lion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This can only end badly.

“Do we really have to go in there?” I cringed as we approached the door. A gold plated nameplate stated that we were both standing in front of Paige Griffon’s room. And that was a battle I wasn’t prepared for. “I mean, she doesn’t have to know that we’re sniffing around.”

Straightening out her back, Yessica nodded. She came off as confident and so sure of herself that this was the right thing to do. “We’ll need to get any information Paige has and we can’t keep putting it off.” She reasoned.

“But she’ll kick us out of Waverly and we’ll be stuck not solving the case.” My argument didn’t seem to faze Yessica. She patted her shoulder bag and a wicked smile curled on her lips. 

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take care of this.”

Leave it to Yessica to be vague when she wants to comfort someone. Though, I suspected it was just the amount of evidence we recovered. I also happened to have my notebook and pen ready to take notes. Of course, it won’t be much help if Paige follows through with her promise. Keeping my hands stiff at my side out of nerves, I waited for the war that awaited us.

Yessica lifted her right hand and gave a couple of short and loud knocks. At first, no one answered at all. There was an eerie silence which was agonizing. ‘Why can’t she just open the door so we can get this over it?’ I wondered. Of course, she didn’t know that we were essentially walking into our doom and that we were coming to confess our sins. All she had to do was pick up a phone and make the call and we’d be over in an instant which would cause mom and dad to be furious and they’d just about ground me for the rest of my life and…

‘No!’ I told myself. ‘Stop panicking! Focus. Yessica knows what she’s doing.’ I decided in that instant that it was the right step to take. Whatever our fate, it was a necessary risk. So, I found my back straightening and confidence surging through me. Paige wasn’t going to intimidate me anymore.

After another couple of knocks from Yessica, we both finally heard someone stirring behind the door. “Who is it?” Paige’s voice sounded raspy, like she had been sobbing recently. Both Yessica and I paused and glanced at each other. What was Paige crying about?

“It’s Natalie and Yessica.” I called out in reply. “And we wanted to talk to you.” Again, another silent pause. It felt like forever since the silence started. I was beginning to wonder if she would ever open the door, when it suddenly swung open. 

And there was the mighty Paige standing before us. Only this time, she had transformed into a nervous wreck. Her hair was plastered to her face and was a wild, tangled blonde mess. Puffy eyes signaled that she had been crying. There was even a tear still sliding down her flushed cheeks. Not only that, but her clothes were in disarray and she was only wearing a tank top and yoga pants. This definitely wasn’t the headstrong and disciplined Paige I had come to know so far over the break.

She noticed that the both of us were staring at her for too long. It dawned on her that her appearance was horrendous and she quickly worked to fix that. Fingers became a makeshift comb as she ushered us inside her room. “Hurry up and get in here.” She urged.

As usual, only her bed was out of order. The rest of her room was in the same immaculate state as before. It gave me some hope that Paige wasn’t lost forever. She collapsed onto her bed where there was a growing pile of tissues and attacked her mane with a hairbrush. Wiping the streaks marks away with her hand, she glared at us as we stood before her.

“What do you two want?” Her hissing tone was noted.

Yessica, far more concerned with Paige’s state, stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Are you alright, Paige?”

“I’m fine!” Paige roared. She seemed reluctant to admit to us that anything was wrong. But we both knew that it was just a lie. 

“Come on, Paige. You don’t have to keep anything from us.” I assured her. “We already know just about everything anyways.”

Her amber eyes were suddenly staring at me and I could see the anger burning in them. Fists full of bed sheets clenched in her hands, she snarled. “What do you mean you know everything?”

“What we mean is…” Yessica interjected. I expected her to try to smooth things over, but instead, she reached into her bag and out came the fountain ox statue. “We want to know what’s really going on.”

Now Paige was frozen in shear panic. Her eyes became the size of golf balls as they fixated on the statue. Breathing deeply to try to regain some of her composure, she tried to straighten her back. But she couldn’t face us and instead, her shoulders slumped. Staring down at the statue, she pressed a tissue against her eye in an attempt to stop herself from breaking out into tears again. With a defeated sigh, she sucked in some air and managed to face us.

“You both know?” Trembling lips muffled the question. Any animosity I held against Paige beforehand now all melted away. She was no longer an angry drill sergeant hell bent on making our lives miserable. Now she was a whimpering, broken teenage girl with no one to turn to.

Not answering Paige at all, Yessica bent over and gave the R.A. a hug. I joined her and we both embraced Paige in a circle of warmth and comfort. When we pulled away, we both started to explain ourselves. “We’ve been doing some digging in the tunnels and we accidently came across Victor taking Louis to daycare.” Yessica admitted.

“And we’ve been walking around at night ever since I saw the red lady walking in the hallway. And that someone is blackmailing you because of something you’ve seen.” I coaxed. 

Understanding what we were getting at, Paige pointed to the statue and started telling us her story. “He gave me that statue on my birthday our freshman year. I told him he shouldn’t have and that he’d get in trouble for stealing it. But they never caught him…”

Even though she paused, neither I nor Yessica dared to interrupt her. We knew how important all this information was, even if it was trivial.

“…And those couple of nights. It just had to happen that one night.” Composing herself, she began to talk about more recent events. “But you guys probably already know about that. So, you want to know about the red lady, right?”

“Yes.” Yessica nodded. “We want to know anything about her that you know and about the notes.”

“Alright. Well, I don’t know much about the red death lady except that she’s the one leaving the notes and making the late night calls to me. At first I thought it was just a prank, like the black cat notes. But then the calls started and I saw her more frequently.”

“What are the calls like?” I asked.

“They’re a woman’s voice, but it sounds funky. She’s definitely using a voice changer. And she’s always threatening to hurt Victor or Louis.” On the verge of chocking out sobs, she curled into a fetal position and laid her head on her pillow. Stepping forward, Yessica rubbed Paige’s back and spoke in a soothing, motherly voice.

“When did this all begin?”

“About a year ago.” Paige sniffled. “I was in the tunnels going to meet up with Victor and Louis when I came across a couple of crates. I didn’t think much of it and when I came back they disappeared. But when I got back to my dorm, I had gotten my first note.”

I could feel my blood begin to boil. What kind of inconsiderate human would torment an R.A.? And over just a couple of crates? What kind of sense does that make?

With my eyebrows furrowed, I stood in front of Paige. I felt a surge of energy coursing through my system. “Don’t worry, Paige.” My voice was firm as I spoke. “We’re going to get to the bottom of this. Considered us hired.”

“…Ok.” She muttered. As we went to exit the room, Yessica tried to hand the statue back to Paige. But Paige pushed it away and shook her head. “You both keep it. I don’t want to look at it anymore.”

And with that, we left the room. Not without one last glance behind to make sure Paige was ok. In fact, she was actually sitting up and seemed to be happier. It was like a heavy weight had been lifted from her shoulders knowing that others were helping her out. That was the moment I became extra determined. We had to find out exactly who it was, and I’d bet anything that if we found red death, we would find the answer.


	24. Junior Detective Update #12

EvidencePainter-

Location: Paige’s dorm room

Subject: Paige Griffon (Once Again)

Assessment: (Third)

Finally confessed to us what’s been going on. Being blackmailed for reasons I will not divulge on the internet. Extra stress to come from this blackmailing. Also receiving more death threats than any other person at Waverly. Why is that? What did she see that no one else has?

Psychological state is imbalanced. Managed to calm her down. Natalie was surprisingly helpful as well. Showed her a piece of evidence that was sentimental. Got a reaction out of her. Clearly she’s attached to it, but it holds too many memories. Possibly got it that one night she spoke of? We left her in a worrisome state. Fetal position and all. Got reassurance when I saw her sit up and start making her bed. 

Evidence:

More talk of crates and tunnels and red lady being the only connection.  
Conclusion:

1\. Red Lady is the center of the issue.  
2\. Paige was mentally breaking down when we got to her.  
3\. Crates are important.  
Objective:

1\. Find Red Lady.  
2\. Find wooden crates.  
Time: 1:45.19 p.m. Date: March 24th, 2014


	25. Lady Death’s Encore

‘There were no crates.’ That thought had been consuming my mind all night long. It was plaguing my mind so much, I could hardly sleep. There was no sense to it. How could the crates just up and disappear? Where did they go? And the most important question, who moved them?

The warm air didn’t help much and only made her clothes sticky with sweat. Black hair clung to my face as it was pressed against the pillow. The covers were suffocating and practically unbearable. And no matter what I tried, I wasn’t able to get any closer to falling asleep. Daydreaming didn’t help. Quiet music didn’t help. A glass of water didn’t help. Pacing around the room didn’t help. Not even my fool proof staring up at the moon tactic didn’t help at all.

So, here I lay wondering if I was ever going to get any rest. Across the room, I could hear the rustling of springs as Natalie turned once again. I could only guess if she was fast asleep or just as miserable as I was. Only her heavy breathing was any indicator.

“They really should turn on the air conditioning.” I muttered softly, just in case Natalie was actually sleeping. “It’s too hot in here.”

I finally couldn’t stand it anymore. I kicked off the heavy cover and stretched to try to release some of my nerves energy. Allowing one of my arms to dangle off the bed, I carefully started to go back over the rest of the day’s events. It probably would only end up being a vain attempt to sleep, but it was well worth a shot.

After we had confronted Paige, there was only one thing to do; go back down into the tunnels. So, we did after we grabbed a late lunch and our swimsuits. And boy was it eventful. First, we happened across Victor again. He wanted to thank us for keeping his secret and comforting Paige. There was a moment where his shoulders slumped which told me that he wanted to be with Paige so badly. To hold her in his arms again and be a complete family was what he wanted. I’m not entirely sure if that’s what Paige wanted.

Anyways, they had left Victor as he made his way out of the tunnels. He wanted to head to the daycare center and pick up Louis early. Then, further along, we spotted Jacob fumbling around looking for his cell phone. Natalie was steaming with fury that she wanted to unleash so badly upon Jacob. I actually had applauded her for keeping her cool. She even pointed out Jacob’s cell beneath the chair.

Of course she did all of this in complete silence and an angry glare. “Geez, what’s her problem?” He had snorted. I dared not say a word knowing that if I did, all sorts of unkind words would flow from my mouth that I wouldn’t be proud of. We just left him there as we leapt into the cold water and swam away in search of the crates. But when we reached the end of the water pool, they weren’t there. 

Gone. Vanished. Completely evaporated from existence. No longer were they there. They had been moved to another location, probably another hiding place. It could take hours to search the entire tunnels system to find them again. Natalie was far more optimistic about it than I was. 

We had trudged back to the dorm empty handed and got an unexpected greeting from death. A note had been slid under the bottom of our door. “Be warned of watchers who seek the hunters of truth.” Those were the words someone had painstakingly inked onto the paper. Neither Natalie nor I was too pleased with that development. That meant that the people we were trailing knew we were onto them.

I was about to make my way the library to do some research when my sister ambushed me and swept me off to play a game of darts. Apparently, Natalie had gone out with Mel to have a nice quiet dinner. I could only imagine that it was because Mel felt guilty for ignoring her sister for the most part. Thankfully, Natalie was able to get some of the research done before she had left. It didn’t yield much; just the fact that Oxborough and Waverly were once connected to each other and was both constructed around the same time.

Back at square one, I rubbed my forehead in an attempt to stifle my headache. I knew we were on the verge of discovering the secret. We just didn’t have any of the finishing pieces and it was bugging the crap out of me. I never liked not having all the information.

Just then, there was a creaking coming from the window. I didn’t want to move since I figured it was Natalie just opening the window. That cool breeze blew through the window and I instantly felt the difference in temperature. It was far more soothing. Hearing the mattress springs moan, I assumed that she had returned to her bed.

“AH!” Natalie’s chilling scream suddenly cut through the night. Shooting up as fast as lightning, I froze at what I saw. 

Peering through the window was an ugly old hag lady. Her wrinkles sagged to the point where her skin was falling off her face. A blood red dress billowed in the wind and barely fit her anorexic frame. She seemed to glide on air while she reached into the room and lunged at Natalie. Grabbing Natalie’s shoulder, she loudly screeched. “The Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

Tugging on Natalie’s loose fitting T-shirt, she tried to pull her through the window outside. But Natalie was quick to slip out of her T-shirt from Death’s grasp. Falling to the wooden floor and clinging to her tank top, she scooted until her back was against the door. All the color in her cheeks had vanished.

Standing up in an instant, I rushed out of bed and started to charge the Red Lady before she could step into the room. Waving Natalie’s T-shirt like a victory banner, the woman backed out of the window. “Death lurks in shadows waiting to strike!” She hissed as she dropped down below. Her message sent Natalie into uncontrollable sobs. 

“She was here. In our room.” Choking out the words, she buried her face into her hands.

Not waiting to see if Natalie was ok, I darted out the window and leapt onto the branches. A flicker of her dress appeared down below as I scanned the ground. Falling to the grass in pursuit, I spotted her walking behind the dorm. “Come back here!” I hollered without caring who heard me. This woman had damn well be ready to act on her threat if she’s going to threaten us in the middle of the night.

Angry and supercharged with adrenaline, I dashed behind the building where I last saw her. When I rounded the corner, I was totally stunned. There was no one to be found. She had vanished just like the crates. But what hadn’t vanished was Natalie’s black T-shirt. It was lying in the dew soaked grass with another Red Death note sitting on top of it. Bending over, I picked it up and unleashed a low growl.

“Now this is war.” No body and I mean nobody, messed with me or my friends without facing my wrath soon afterwards. This was where the Red Death made her mistake. She made the fight personal.

Stomping back to the front door of the dorm, I walked upstairs and was careful not to wake anyone else. When I reached the room, I knocked on the door. “Natalie,” I whispered. “It’s me. Let me in.” 

The door swung open with impressive speed. Apparently while I was chasing down the woman, Natalie had spent time gathering herself together. She had already changed into her exploration clothes and had put on a brave and even angry face. Snatching her night T-shirt from my hand and crumpling up the note in her fist, she tossed them both on her bed. 

As if she could tell what I was thinking, she held up her hand to stop me. “I don’t care if it’s evidence. I’ve had it with this lady. We’re solving this case tonight.”

“My thoughts exactly.” I agreed. It wasn’t long before I was in my clothes and we were on our way into the tunnels. It was about time we took Victor up on his offer.


	26. Junior Detective Update #13

MysteriousSymphony-

Guys, me and Yessica were just attacked by Red Death herself! I can’t believe it. She just appeared through our window and grabbed me….I’m so scared. Yessica just jumped out of the window after her and left me all alone. I’m all alone…in a dark room…where the Red Death was a second ago. And…her hand was…so cold and bony. It felt like a skeleton’s hand with chunks of skin falling off. I…I just…I’m so scared!

This is getting really serious. I’m not sure if I should just admit we are so out of our league and call the police or if we’re too deep now. We did promise Paige that we would help and not involve them, but DEATH WAS IN OUR ROOM! And she ripped off my T-shirt while yelling a warning.

Damn! Mel’s at the door and she heard my screaming. What should I tell her? I can’t tell her the truth or she’ll be absolutely livid with me. Dad will be called and I’ll be grounded. And worse, Paige will be miserable.

I’ll…I’ll just say that we saw a spider and that it’s gone now. Yessica let it go outside and we’re going back to bed. No troubles in this room. We’re a-ok! Oh thank God she bought it. Dodged that bullet. 

Ok. I’ve made my decision. When we figure what’s going on tonight, we’ll be sure to call the police. But I’m not gonna let some woman dressed in a Halloween costume keep me from solving this mystery. This has gone on for far too long for me, Yessica, Paige, and Victor. Tonight, it all ends here and we won’t stop until it does. So stay tuned for the answer because Yessica and I are going in!

Time: 11:47.59 p.m. Date: March 24th, 2014


	27. Nightly Escapades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do these girls ever get any sleep?

Winding our way through the tunnels, I pulled back a stray strand of my black hair out of my face. My senses felt heightened as I glanced around the darkness. I wouldn’t let the red lady sneak up on me again. Falling in line behind Yessica, I was waving my flashlight around sporadically at any small sound. 

“You doing ok?” Yessica must have seen the beam of light going every which direction or she wouldn’t have asked me if I was alright. Leave it to Yessica to know how unnerved I was. Shaking my head, I steadied my flashlight and nodded.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

As if she knew I was lying, she cocked an eyebrow and continued forward. It was probably the shakiness in my voice, but I couldn’t help but let it happen. Unlike Yessica, I couldn’t contain my emotions in the slightest. And the experience with red death was lingering in my mind.

Thankfully, the conversation stopped afterwards as we finally reached the end of the tunnels. Pulling on the door handle, Yessica stepped aside and allowed me to go first. I walked through the storage closet and peered out into the hallway. There wasn’t much to see except a calendar hanging on the blank walls. Yet, I hesitated at the sound of someone’s singing voice disrupting the silence.

“…Death death, devil devil devil devil, evil evil evil evil songs! Hell you know that’s how I get along!” The male voice echoed down the corridor. I recognized the gravely, tone deaf voice as Rudy who was probably busy sweeping the floor about now. “…the world is full of idiots so how can it be wrong?”

Retreating back into the closet, I shook my head and mouthed, “Rudy’s coming.” Acknowledging that she heard me, Yessica closed the door to the tunnel and crouched down behind a vacuum cleaner. I stood my ground by the door and left it slightly cracked open to watch for the janitor. We both held our breath while he passed. Neither of us made a sound until I was sure I couldn’t hear Rudy’s singing anymore.

“He’s gone.” I whispered, happy that we hadn’t been caught again.

“Then let’s hurry before he comes back.” Yessica urged. I quietly tiptoed out of the closet and into the dorm. There was a musky smell that bombarded my nose. Walls were decorated with blank dark blue wallpaper. What seemed to be sparkling tile floors in the day light appeared dull during the night time.

“Where should we go first?” I wondered out loud as Yessica shut the closet door.

“Maybe we should check this open janitor locker.”

“Hahaha. You sarcasm is hilarious.”

“I’m not the one who’s blind as a bat.” Yessica countered.

Purposefully shining my flashlight in her face, I rolled my eyes. “Just hurry up and check it out. The sooner we’re gone, the better.”

Peering into the locker, Yessica’s eyes widened. She reached her slender hand inside and carefully pulled out a crowbar. Handing it to me, I gave her a puzzled look. “What would a janitor be doing with a crowbar?”

“Better question. Why would a janitor have Lena Skinner’s number and an expensive mailing bill and a ceramic clown statue?”

“What?” I leaned over and peered into the locker myself. Jammed pack with tons of junk, it looked as though the pile would collapse at any moment. It was a wonder that the janitor got anything done in between his habit of collecting crap. “Where’d he get all this stuff?”

“Don’t know.” Shutting the locker as quietly as possible, Yessica stored at me with her dark brown eyes. “But I think we might find some answers if we find the stained glass window Victor was talking about.”

Agreeing with her, I unwrinkled the paper I had scribbled and stuffed into my pockets with the directions on it. From the janitor’s closet, we would have to make a right, go up the stairs, and take two lefts. We obeyed the instructions and were careful to keep out of Rudy’s way. Sneaking past some of the guys rooms, we came across the glass window at the end of a dead end hallway.

It was a stunning picture of an ox surrounded by a green, grassy field. Words were etched around the circular boarder. Even in the dim moonlight, the picture still appeared breathtaking. The words read, “First one to move back. Back ox to move first.”

“What do you think it could mean?” I asked. Rubbing her temple, Yessica stared at the glass to try to find meaning in those words. Her defeated sigh escaped her lips after a few minutes of silence.

“I have no idea.”

“Well then, that makes two of us.” A male voice grumbled. A sudden chill ran down my spine as I turned around. There was Rudy with his stubby arms crossed over his chest. Though he was a midget, fury burned in his eyes causing me to be worried about what he might do.

Hiding the crowbar we stole in my sleeve, I started to panic as he waited for an explanation. “Umm…we were just…” I stuttered.

“Leaving.” Rudy cut in. His voice was a low menacing tone and no longer the happy singing I had heard earlier.

“Yes, sir.” Unable to stare into his angry eyes, I stared the long walk down the hallway. Yessica was on step behind me and Rudy was making sure we both were headed out. ‘How was he able to sneak upon us?’ I asked myself. Surely one of us would have heard him behind us. ‘Maybe we’re just that bad at sneaking around.’

When we reached the doorway, he pushed us outside into the cool air. “I don’t know how you two manage to find your way in here, but if I catch either of you in here again, I’ll be calling the police.” With that, he slammed the door and locked it shut.

“That went well.” Yessica snorted as she kicked a rock. “How are we supposed to figure out the meaning of the words now?”

Not knowing what to do, I pulled the crowbar out of my sleeve. Taking a breath of air, I exhaled and grabbed Yessica’s back pack. “Might as well put this away.” When I opened the bag, the ox fountain statue greeted me. And that sparked an idea.

I yanked him out, tossed the crowbar inside and dashed to the fountain. “What are you doing?” Yessica yelled.

“I think I know what the window was referring to.” My heart excitedly pounded as I set the statue back on its perch at the back of the fountain. Testing my hunch, I pulled downward. To my amazement, it moved.

“How’d you do that…”

“Quick!” I interrupted Yessica’s question as she approached. “Pull the front statue.”

Responding to my order, she nodded and pulled on the other statue. The ground rumbled as a part of the fountain opened up. It gave way to another underground passage way. Exchanging a look of awe with each other, we both let go of the statues and walked down the stair way. Below was nothing special except for being a gigantic chamber. The only thing of interest was a stack of crates that Yessica had been raving about.

“There’re the crates I saw.” Yessica confirmed as she rushed over to them. She had the crowbar in her hand and started to work at opening them. I began pushing down on the crowbar to help and could feel the top giving way under the pressure. In no time at all the lid popped off and we looked inside.


	28. Junior Detective Update #14

EvidencePainter-

Location: Oxborough

Subject: Rudy Munch

Assessment:

Kind of a grump most of the time. Could it be he hates his job? Is he tired of being teased for being a midget? Why is he a janitor at an all-boys school if he hates it so much? Perhaps he couldn’t find another job. Main source of enjoyment seems to be music. His means of escaping? Possible. Locker is filled to the brim with junk and other items. Kleptomaniac? Deeper psychological problems? We found a crowbar. What does a janitor need with a crowbar?

Evidence:

Saw Lena’s phone number. Rudy and her have a connection?  
Inscription on the stained glass window led us to the fountain entrance.  
Crowbar…might be useful if we find the crates.  
Oxborough fountain has a secret passageway.  
Conclusion:

Rudy hates his job and is a Kleptomaniac  
There are too many passageways around here.  
Objective:

Keep an eye on Rudy  
Explore the fountain passage


	29. Gemstones Galore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally the stuff in the boxes is revealed.

“Gemstones.” I picked up a handful of the tiny glittering red and green and blue and white gems. Somehow, I figured there would be something more exciting or dangerous in the crates, but no. Only jewels and jewelry were stuffed in there. All gold and silver chains full of gorgeous beauty. “What’s a bunch of these doing underneath this fountain?”

“Beats me.” Natalie shrugged as she pulled out a cut up ruby. 

“Hey!” I tried to snatch the jewel out of her hand but she jerked it away. “You can’t just take one an’ keep it? This is evidence.”

“I’m not taking one to keep!” Rolling her eyes, Natalie reached for my backpack. She carefully picked out one of the brown paper bags marked evidence bag one. Opening it up, she snatched up a ruby that I had painstakingly grabbed from the albino squirrel. “I’m just comparing the two pieces of evidence to see if they’re the same.” Concentrating for a moment, she smiled. “And I think they are the same.”

Getting the feeling that she was holding something back, I began to urge her to continue. “And…” 

She remained silent as she thought about it. That was when her eyes shown with a flash of a brilliant idea. Almost like she had the whole idea figured out. In no time flat, her notebook was in her hand and she was rapidly flipping through it. Natalie’s finger stopped on one of the sentences she wrote and she read it to herself. “That’s it!”

“What’s it?” My frustration at her silence was beginning to get the better of me. It took me a minute before I was able to calm myself down. “Care to share what you’re thinking? I mean, I know you might think I’m a mind reader, but I’m not.”

Nodding and ignoring the snarky comment, Natalie began pacing around the big cavern swinging her arms. “Think about it. Everyone who’s ever seen these crates sitting around in the tunnels started seeing the Red Death Lady. Don’t you think it’s because the Red Death Lady is protecting these crates?” 

“So, that means she’s keeping anyone from discovering there are jewels in these crates.”

“And look,” Natalie pointed out the doorway in a corner behind the crates. She stepped on a rock and it swung open. “I’d bet this leads into the tunnels which is how they transport it from place to place.”

“Oh, then it’s a jewel smuggling ring.” Smacking my lips together, I gave a disappointing stare at the crates. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Money and love are the two best criminal motives.” Natalie shrugged while she wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. “So, now all that’s left is to find out who’s behind all of this. And I’m willing to bet it isn’t a prank by any of the Waverly girls.”

“No doubt about it.”

Suddenly, Natalie’s eyes widened as she seemed to remember something. “Hey, haven’t there been a couple of robberies in New York? Maybe that’s got something to do with this.”

“Well,” Bending over, I pulled a piece of crumbled paper from under the boxes. “I think this mailing order from New York is probably confirmation of that.”

“Does it have a name on it?” Natalie couldn’t contain her excitement. I checked, but shook my head.

“Only says to an L.K.S.”

“Shoot.” Kicking the ground, Natalie placed her hands on her hips. “Until we can tell whose initials those are, we won’t know who received the delivery. We have to see who has those initials.”

“Don’t I know it.” I agreed. Putting away my flashlight, I stuffed my hands in my pocket. “And I’m not especially keen on being here when they come back to claim their loot.”

“Right.” There was a look in her eyes of realization and horror as if the thought had never crossed her mind. Her eyes darted back and forth making sure that they were completely alone. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“You go ahead. I’m gonna take a picture real quick in case this isn’t here later.” I pulled out my phone and selected the camera option. As I lined up the picture, I heard the fast footsteps of Natalie hurrying up the stairs. After I snapped the picture, I followed. Imagine my surprise when I saw Victor running toward Natalie. A desperate look was in his eyes and he was panting. Not only that, but he was grasping a piece of paper about the same size as the notes.

“What’s wrong, Victor?” Natalie rushed over to him, and he just about collapsed in her arms.

“He’s gone.” Victor held up the note in Natalie’s face and she took it. “They took him.”

Reading the note out loud, Natalie’s face twisted into a frown. “Medaling in the affairs of death may cost you your son’s life. Stay out of the tunnels and Death may not claim him this night. That’s awful!” 

“So, the Red Lady kidnapped Louis.” I stated as I walked up to them. “How’d it happen?”

Victor lifted his head from Natalie’s shoulder and explained it all. “I was getting up to get Louis a glass of water because he was up and thirsty. I was only gone for a few minutes and left the door unlocked. When I got back, my door was wide open and this note was on my bed.” Upset with himself, he clenched his fist and placed it against his forehead. “I was so stupid! How could I leave him alone like that? He’s probably so scared.”

“Oh, Victor.” Natalie patted him on the back to comfort him. “It’s not your fault. How could you’ve known they were gonna come after Louis?”

Seeing Victor on the brink of a breakdown made my blood boil. This time, Red Death had taken this too far. If she and her band of jewel thieves were so desperate as to nab a three year old, they’d better be ready to deal with the consequences; me. I put my hand on Victor’s shoulder and squeezed. “Natalie, go wake Jacob up.” I ordered.

“But why?” She seemed confused, not able to figure out what I was getting at.

“We’re gonna need some backup.”

Understanding what she was hinting at, she nodded and stuck her hand out to Victor. 

“You mean you know where Louis is?” Victor’s head perked up and his eyes were pleading. 

“I’d bet money that Louis was taken to the tunnels.” Victor, with a renewed look of hope in his eyes, dug into his pockets and dropped his keys in Natalie’s hands. She sprinted to the school, unlocked the door, and disappeared inside. Whipping out my phone, I started dialing a number.

“Victor, you might want to call Paige and let her know what’s going on so she can call the police.”

“Yeah…ok.” He too had his phone out and paused. “But, where should she tell them to meet us?”

I thought for a minute and answered. “Tell them to stand outside the oak tree.”

Nodding, he dialed Paige’s number and began pacing back and forth. Meanwhile, I waited for the ringing to stop. “Come on, Izzy. Pick up!” I muttered. Finally, there was a click and a groan on the other end.

“Yessica? Why are you calling me so late at night? Can’t you just walk over instead?”

“Listen, Izzy,” My voice was as urgent sounding as I could muster. “I need you to wake Mel up and go keep Paige company. She’ll be pretty shaken right now.”

“Yessica…” Izzy sounded concerned and more alert than before. “What’s happened? Are you in trouble?”

“Just be sure to wake Mel and head over to Paige.” I purposefully ignored the question and shut off the phone. Victor was still talking to Paige. Grabbing his wrist, I started leading him toward the entrance of Oxborough. He pulled his phone away with his ear and placed it on his chest.

“Where are we going?”

“We’re headed back into the tunnels. I think I know where they’re hiding.”


	30. Junior Detective Update #15

MysteriousSymphony-

Oh man, this is bad guys. Red Death Lady has resorted to kidnapping Victor’s three year old kid! Shoot. I probably shouldn’t have said that, but I’m so flustered right now. And worse, I’m running through a school at night hoping I won’t run into the janitor. He might have my head if he finds me roaming through the hallways again. I just hope Jacob isn’t a heavy sleeper. We’re going to need all the help we can get.

Maybe I should call the police. Nawh. I’m pretty sure Yessica’s already thought of it. She’s probably got that handled. Now, which room was Jacob’s again? Right. Number 3. God I hope he wakes up. Oh, wow. I didn’t expect him to answer that quickly. Or be…that naked. Or that’d he’d be so happy and embarrassed to see me. Here’s to hoping I can convince him to come with me. 

Dang. That didn’t take long. He’s getting dressed right now. Not really shy about strutting around his room naked. That, and his roommate seem to be able to sleep through a hurricane. Guess this mean that we’re going after a killer by ourselves. And guys…if you don’t hear anything from either of us, please let someone know what we’ve been up to. Please. Wish us luck because oh boy we’re gonna need it.

Time: 1:33.01 a.m. Date: March 25th, 2014


	31. Friendly Rivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a bonus chapter through the point of view of Izzy.

As fast as I possibly could, I threw on my yoga pants and loose fitting jacket. I knew it looked terribly unflattering, but that was unimportant at the moment. Even my messed up hair didn’t bother me at all. Only one thing was on my mind, that phone call from my younger sister Yessica. There was something she was hiding from me. I could hear it in her voice. She wasn’t exactly forthright with information about why she was calling. 

And why had she asked me to wake up Mel? Surely all the times I had gone on and on about her rude and gothic ways would have my sister dissuade from keeping away from Mel. Then again, Yessica always did run with another crowd. But why Mel? What did she have to do with anything?

‘Time to find out.’ I told myself as I rushed out of my room and went to Mel’s room. Reaching the door, I knocked. “Mel! Wake up!”

After a couple of minutes of waiting, I started to knock again. But I didn’t have to. Mel came lumbering out of her room wearing hideous black sweatpants and a grey hoodie. Her eyes were dark circles and she was livid. “Izzy, what are you doing banging on my door at this hour?”

“You’re not gonna believe me, but I got a phone call that we should head to Paige. There’s something wrong.” I tried to put as much sincerity in my voice as I could. Me and Mel weren’t exactly buddy buddy, but I trusted my sister enough to know her sound judgment. For some reason, this time she perked up and cocked an eyebrow. Even in the nighttime her hair was tied in two pigtails.

“What’s this really about?”

“You don’t believe me?” My voice came across as a bit stronger tone than I wanted. But I took offense to her accusing me of not telling the truth. “Well, I got a phone call from Yessica and…”

“Yessica called you?” Suddenly, she snatched her keys and closed the door. A determined look was on her face. I was a bit startled that she seemed to know my sister, but there wasn’t much time to think about anything. I just simply nodded in reply. “Then let’s get going.”

We both made our way to Paige’s room as fast as our feet could carry us. Mel was babbling on, asking a thousand questions that I wasn’t listening to at all. ‘What have you gotten yourself into, Yessica?’ I wondered. 

When we reached Paige’s room, I had become extremely frustrated. I could feel my cheeks were burning red. Paige was going to give me answers as to what was going on. Whether she wanted to or not. “Paige!” I cried out as my fist beat against her door. I didn’t care if she handed me twenty demerits for being out this late at night and disturbing the peace. This was serious. “Open the door!”

“Izzy, lay off.” Mel patted my shoulders and began to pull me away. I jerked her hands off whirled around.

“You don’t tell me what to do!” I flew off the handle and turned back around. Continuing to pound on the door, I was still angry.

“I want to know what’s going on around here.” I shouted, probably way too loud but I didn’t care at all. Finally, Paige Griffon opened the door. And boy did she look worse than Mel. Hair puffed out every which way as though she just rolled out of bed. Steady red streams of tears were running down her cheeks and dripping off her chin. Her ruffled pajamas were all loose fitting and she seemed to be completely distraught.

I couldn’t contain myself any longer. The words started flying off my tongue before I could stop them. “Something is going on around here and you are at the center of it. Now, I just got a call from Yessica. Where’s she and what’s going on around here?” 

Bowing her head, her tone was nearly a whisper that I couldn’t hear. “They’ve got him.” Was all she said.

“Who do they have?” Mel sidestepped me and went to comfort Paige. I wished I could still be angry, but her pathetic look nearly melted my heart. People often called me a heartless and vapid teenager. What they didn’t know was, I was too damn good at sympathizing. I just had to work hard to hide it.

“My three year old son, Louis.” She muttered softly. “The Red Lady has him now and I don’t know where he is.”

“Who’s the Red Lady and why she’s important?” With curiosity laced in her voice, Mel touched Paige’s arm and gave her a look. 

“What about the fact that you have a son?” 

“Izzy.” Mel shot me a glare and I clamped my mouth tightly shut. That didn’t stop me from glaring back as Mel coaxed Paige to tell the whole truth.

“Yessica and Natalie discovered I had a son with Victor over at Oxborough and that I was being blackmailed for it. Apparently I had seen some crates in the underground tunnels that were part of some jewel smuggling ring and that was when it started. So, Yessica and Natalie offered to help and I let them…”

“You did what! I can’t believe you let my baby sister go off and find a jewel smuggling ring and she could be in serious danger! How could you just let them do that?” 

“My little sister is going to charge into some underground tunnels and go after people who probably have guns? I can’t believe you would just roll over and tell them yes! What the hell were you thinking?” 

I couldn’t hear a word Mel said while she was talking over me. I was too busy raging and shouting and yelling at Paige to care. She sunk in her seat and turned her eyes away in shame for what she had done. It wasn’t until I commanded her to tell us where Yessica and Natalie were that I got any sort of answer out of her.

“They’re somewhere underground searching for Louis and the thieves. Victor told me to call the police and that we should meet down at the oak tree.”

Glaring at her with my brown eyes, I snagged her wrist and started marching to the door. “If Yessica wants us at the oak tree with the police then I’m going to be there to give her a piece of my mind!”

“Right behind you!” Mel hollered, sounding just as upset as I was. Again, there was that nagging suspicion that my rival shouldn’t be so interested in what my sister was doing. And yet again, I had to push that out of my head as we ran down the stairs two at a time.

‘I’m coming, Yessica!’ I thought. ‘Just please be ok.’


	32. Make a Break for It

Running through the Oxborough hallway with Jacob in tow, I could hear my heart pounding in my chest. He was still asking a ton of questions about what was going on, but I could only breathe heavily and ignore them. I would try to explain the situation and, of course, I froze up like I always do. It wasn’t until I reached the janitor’s closet that I actually was able to tell him what was happening.

“Victor’s son was kidnapped by jewel smugglers and taken into the tunnels.”

Blinking in disbelief, Jacob was nearly speechless. I could see him trying to take that information in and process it. “Wait…Victor has a kid?”

“Yes.” Wondering where Yessica and Victor were, I glanced around. 

“And his kid was living here? The whole time.” 

Rolling my eyes at his fixation with that one fact, I whirled around and cocked an eyebrow. “Yes, Jacob. Hard as it is to believe, Victor has a three year old kid named Louis and he’s been living in the dorm for three years. That’s not the point. He’s been kidnapped and we need your help.” I placed my hands on his shoulder and stared straight into his eyes. “Do you think you can help us get Louis back or should I count on someone else?”

“No,” He shook his head and took a deep breath. “You can count on me to help ya.”

“Good.” I dropped my hands and was relieved to see Yessica and Victor come running down the hallway. ‘It’s about time.’ I told myself. But I didn’t say it out loud for the sake of time. Instead, I opened the door cleared a path through the supplies. “Where are we headed, Yessica?”

“Back where Leela and Jacob play board games. I think that’s where they are.” She answered. 

“Think?” Victor cried. “What happens if they aren’t there?”

“Then we’ll search the whole damn tunnels.” She yelled back. Both Jacob and Victor seemed extremely shocked at her outburst. Their eyes widened and both of them exchanged worried glances.

I knew better than to spend time questioning it. Ducking inside the tunnels, I turned back around to make sure the group was following me. Thankfully, they were and I wiped out my flashlight. Apart of me wanted to yell charge or any of those movie clichés to lighten the mood. Yet, something in the back of my mind told me that it would only come across as insensitive or careless. And, I didn’t feel up to it as I hurriedly walked through the tunnels.

It wasn’t long before we came across Leela and Jacob’s usual hangout. When we reached the place, we began to hear hushed whispers. Two people were standing next to a boat that was piled with crates. One was the tall and slender red Death lady who held a lantern. The other was a short midget who appeared to be holding a gun. And that wasn’t all he had in his grip. His arm was wrapped around the little blonde haired boy who was crying for his daddy.

“Louis!” Victor shouted as he elbowed his way past me.

“Daddy!” Louis screamed at the top of his lungs as he desperately tried to run to his father. But the midget whirled around and pointed the barrel at Victor before he could charge forward.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A familiar voice warned. Shocked, Victor raised his arms and gave a puzzled glance to the rest of us.

“Rudy? Is that you?” He asked.

Rudy never got the chance to answer. The woman beside him whacked his head with her flashlight. “You dumbass!” She growled. “Now they know it’s you!”

“What does it matter?” Rudy rubbed the back of his skull while he talked. “We’ve got the kid an’ they can’t do nothing to us.” Pulling Louis closer to him and grinning, he chuckled. “Not unless they want somethin’ to happen to him.”

“Please…don’t hurt him.” Victor pleaded. “He’s just a kid.”

“Well now he’s our ticket out of here!” The woman spoke again. But I wasn’t paying too much attention to what she was saying. Instead, I was focused on her voice. I swore I had heard her speaking once before. That same nasally, high pitched one sounded so familiar, but where would I have heard it since she wasn’t a staff person at Waverly and I had never seen a woman at Waverly at all…

Suddenly, it hit me when I looked down at my phone. ‘The phone call…’ I thought. ‘Red Death Lady is Lena Skinner!’

With this new information in mind, I stared at the red lady and smiled. “God this was brilliant.”

Confused, she cocked her masked face. “What do you find so brilliant.” She snarled.

“The fact that you’re Lena Skinner and no one would suspect you since you work at Krolmeister.”

Ripping off her mask, I found myself facing a normal woman instead of a demon. She was a red head with tan skin and a mole on her chin. “How’d you know that?”

“This.” Yessica chimed in as she waved a piece of paper with her number on it. “Why else would Rudy have a lady’s number in his locker?”

“Hey!” He yelled. “She’s also my girlfriend!”

“You idiot!” Lena smacked Rudy on the head once again. “I told you they were getting to close to the truth.”

“Sorry, love bug.” Rudy apologized.

“Ugh! And I suppose you both already know what we’re doing down here.”

“Yeah.” Yessica shrugged as if that didn’t matter all that much. “Just you typical jewel smuggling ring. Honestly, that’s kind of lame.”

With a red glow in her cheeks, Lena fumed with rage. She was so blinded by her anger, she hardly noticed we were inching closer to her in hopes of tackling her. And Rudy was no better since he was paying more attention to calming his sweet heart down. Yessica locked gazes with Victor while I glanced at Jacob. A quick nod of our heads got the message across. It was now or never.

Victor and Yessica, since they were both the closest to the culprits, lunged forward and knocked Rudy over. He went flying backwards into the water and began flailing about in panic. And he was still clinging to Louis who wasn’t fairing much better.

“Love bug!” Rudy yelled in between gasps. “Help! I can’t swim!”

Yessica immediately dove into the water and pulled Louis from Rudy’s grasp. While she was doing that, Lena pushed off the shore with her foot and began paddling away. “Sorry sweetie. You’re on your own.” She hollered.

I grabbed Jacob’s arm and passed him Yessica’s backpack. “I’m going after her.” I shouted as I stared toward the water.

“But she’s dangerous!” He protested while I waded into the water.

“Jacob, we don’t have time to argue. I’m the only one who can swim and she’s getting away.”

“But you can’t go alone!”

“Then keep going down the tunnel toward Waverly and see if you can cut her off!” I ordered. He nodded and ran full sprint the opposite direction.

Meanwhile, I furiously swam as fast as my arms and legs could carry me. I refused to let Lena win. Of course, there was always the possibility that the police were standing outside the oak tree. I hoped so because there was no way any of us could follow her if she made it to the getaway car. 

I finally managed to catch up to the boat when it hit the red dress was giving her great difficulty and caused her to fumble. I snatched her ankle and didn’t let it go. That is, not until she just about kicked me in the face with her high heel shoe. 

Releasing her ankle, I watched her desperately run to the exit. With my clothes completely drenched, I felt their weight as I followed close behind. My heart was pounding and I was breathing heavily. I couldn’t let her get away. Not after all of our hard work to solve the case.

To my surprise, when I stepped out from underneath the oak tree, there was a line of cops gathered around. Each had flashlights and guns and were staring at her in shock. A few of them were scratching their heads, but one was at least placing the handcuffs on Lena’s hand. One cop stepped forward and pointed a gun at her. “Who are you?”

“I’m Natalie Corbalis.” I stated as I stood up straighter. “And thank goodness you guys are here.”


	33. Junior Detective Update #16

EvidencePainter-

Location: Oak Tree

Subject: Lena Skinner

Assessment:

Really uptight and unhappy. Maybe she’s stressed because we discovered her identity. Or more likely, she’s caught. Seems abusive toward her boyfriend, Rudy. Who’d of thought they were a legitimate item? Probably angry and blaming the whole thing on him. Though, we’d have never gotten involved if she wasn’t roaming the halls. Wow. Apparently doesn’t love boyfriend enough to help him out of the water. What a bit… Oh crap! Rudy still has Louis! I’m going in.

Evidence:

Boat full of crates and waving a gun. That plus all the other evidence and a kidnapping charge should put them away for good.  
Conclusion:

Saving people from drowning is hard work.  
Louis is fine and only shell shocked.  
Lena and Rudy are the culprits.  
Objective:

Stop Lena.  
Get Rudy to the cops.  
Time: 2:00.00 a.m. Date: March 25th, 2014


	34. Wrapping Up

When I emerged from the tunnels, I pushed Rudy to a cop. Somehow, I had dragged him through the water while keeping him subdued. Both Victor and Louis came out from behind me. The cop who caught Rudy pointed to him. “This the partner?”

I nodded. “Yeah. And there are crates of stolen jewels a little further down.”

“Don’t listen to her!” Lena shouted. “It’s not true!”

“Quiet, Lady!” The chief inspector demanded. She closed her mouth as she was shoved into the back of a cop car. Turning back to me, he shook his eyes. “Sorry about that. We’re still searching for the criminals in New York City. Maybe we’ll get some of them to crack.”

“Then I’m sure the crates will be a great place to start.” I smiled as I shook his hand. With that, he ordered his men to enter the tunnel to gather the evidence. Then, he pointed through the crowd. 

“She’s over there.”

As I walked past them, I spotted Natalie who was huddled in a warm towel. She tossed one at me when she saw me and smiled. “Guess we wrapped this mystery up.”

“Not quite.” I said as I grabbed the towel. Jacob came bounding around the corner with my backpack still clutched in his hands. He sighed with relief when he noticed we were all fine and the cops had gotten here in time. Though, it took him a second to catch his breath before he was able to speak.

“I’m glad you two are all right. But I thought you guys were goners.” His eyes and mine were both fixed on Natalie.

“Psh.” Natalie shrugged as if chasing after a criminal was no big deal. “I handled myself just fine, thank you.”

“Yeah, sure you did.” I rolled my eyes and let the sarcastic comment escape from my mind.

“Hey! You can’t deny that I wasn’t brave this time. I looked death in the face and face it head on.” Striking a proud pose, she beamed.

“Brave? No. Stupid? Yes.” I couldn’t help myself. I burst out into laughter and grabbed my stomach. Natalie, who had also been holding back a chuckle, began giggling uncontrollably. There was just something about insulting each other that sent us into laughing fits.

“Hahaha! Has anyone ever told you guys that you’re both hilarious.” Jacob commented.

“I’m glad someone finds my humor funny.”

Then, he glanced down at the ground and remembered he was still holding onto the backpack. His cheeks turned red with the embarrassment of forgetting. Holding out his hand, he passed it back to Natalie who gladly accepted it. “Here, I think this is yours.”

“Well, it’s actually Yessica’s, but that’s ok.” She let the silence come between us as we all stared at each other. It such a long pause it started to get uncomfortable. Unable to bear the silence, I poked Natalie’s shoulder.

“Hey, Nat. I think the cops might want what’s in there.” I reminded her.

“I’d bet they would.” Natalie unzipped the backpack and started pulling out brown bags marked evidence. She counted them all up and nodded. “They’re all here. It’s everything we gathered.”

“Well…” Jacob bent over and gave us both a tight hug. He lingered a bit longer than I thought he should, but he pulled away and crossed him arms as if he was also cold. “I’d better get back to Oxborough before Izzy or Leela figure out I’m here. You two take care.” 

“Bye, Jacob!” We both replied in unison and waved. He waved back as he started down the road. Lowering my hand, I pulled the towel tighter to my body and shivered. It was a lot cooler out than I had anticipated. 

I turned back around to catch sight of Victor still standing close to the tree. He was holding Louis and doing his best to calm his son down by rocking him back and forth. Poor Louis seemed a little traumatized at his ordeal. Being kidnaped and held hostage couldn’t have been healthy for his psyche. Though, judging by how Victor’s soothing voice and rocking was making Louis fall asleep, I’d bet that he’d be fine after a couple of days.

“Victor!” Someone shouted. Suddenly, Paige burst through the horde of cops and nearly tackled Victor. A bit startled by her sudden appearance, Victor’s shock melted into happiness. He wrapped his free arm around Paige and kissed her neck. 

When she pulled away, she stared into his eyes. “Oh thank god you two are safe.” She sighed.

“Momma!” Louis outstretched his arms and wrapped them around his mother’s neck. She beamed and tickled his belly. 

“How’s my little man?” She cooed. Then, after a few minutes of playing with him, she passed him back to Victor and faced us. There were happy tears in her eyes and streaking down her cheeks. “You two did a fantastic job helping us out. I don’t know how I’ll be able to repay you.”

“Well…” Natalie spoke up once she cleared her throat. “You could just not mention this to our parents. That’d be payment enough.”

“Deal.” Paige laughed. “Though, I’m not sure I can say the same about your sisters.”

“What?” Natalie’s eyes widened in panic. She turned toward and her shoulders slumped. “You didn’t…”

Remembering the phone call, I cringed. I felt the presence of Izzy’s eyes looking at the back of my head. “Yessica Romero!” She shouted. Both me and Natalie faced her and saw Mel standing by her side. They both had their arms crossed and angry stares. “What the hell’s going on here? You could’ve gotten into so much trouble all because you agreed to help out Paige…”

“Wait...” Mel interrupted Izzy’s rant and raised an eyebrow. She stared from me to Natalie and back to me. “Yessica’s your little sister?”

“Well duh. And what’s it to ya?” 

“Natalie’s my little sis’.” There was a long pause as the rivals glared at each other. Both of them turned back toward us. “Kiddo, you’ve got a ton of explanation for what’s been going on.” Mel tapped her finger waiting for her sister to give her an excuse. 

Instead, Natalie ingeniously yawned and her eyelids drooped. “I’m so tired.” 

“Oh, don’t you use that excuse with us…”

But Natalie never finished listening to Izzy’s sentence. She leaned over, closed her eyes, and just about fell asleep right there. I wrapped my arm around her to hold her steady and gave my older sister a shrug of my shoulders. “Honestly, we’ve been running on almost no sleep for a couple of days. Maybe the explanation can wait until the morning?”

Both of our siblings gave each other a look before agreeing. “Yeah. I guess it can wait.” Izzy grumbled. So, with Natalie dozing on my shoulder and under the stare of my older sister, we made our way back into the school. And for the first time the whole week, when my head hit the pillow, I instantly fell asleep.


	35. Junior Detective Update #17

MysteriousSymphony-

Well guys, we did it. Victor and Paige are freed from black mail and their baby is fine. Jacob is on his way back to Oxborough and the cops are collecting our evidence at this moment. I got to hand it to us; we did a pretty good job. And the best part, our parents will be none the wiser because Paige isn’t going to tell on us. Of course, that’s probably just because she owes us, but the sincerity is still there.

So, curious about who it was? It was actually Lena and Rudy. Who knew they were a part of a jewel smuggling ring? The cops say they’re searching their apartment right now and they found a map of the tunnel system that someone had stolen from the library. Guess they figured this would be the best place to do the smuggling since hardly anyone knew about it. Then, when people started spotting their merchandise, they made up the Red Death Lady who would scare and blackmail the girls to keep quiet. I think it’s safe to say that Paige won’t be blackmailed again anytime soon.

Anyways, I think it’s time to sign off. So, this is MysteriousSymphony saying good…Oh no ! EvidencePainter told our sisters and they’re on their way. I’m so dead! What should I…oh I know! Pretend I’m tired. Yeah…I’ll go with that. Anyways, this is MysteriousSymphony saying goodbye and happy hunting for mysteries to solve. As Izzy would say, Ciao!

Time: 2:20.12 a.m. Date: March 25th, 2014


End file.
